Amber eyes and thunderstorms
by fiona200014
Summary: This is a KaoruXreader fanfic for all you host club fans:) This is still an ongoing fanfic, so make sure you come back every now and then to see if there is a new chapter.
1. The host club

_Hey! This is my second story and I'm really excited about it! I do not own any of the host club characters other than Minako and her family. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

I heard my alarm clock go off and lazily opened my eyes to look at the time. 6:00 in the morning, why am I getting up so early? Then I remembered that it was my first day at Ouran high school. I groaned as got out of bed and walked to the shower. The warm water hitting my skin was heavenly, helping me to clear my mind and prepare myself for the day. I couldn't afford a school uniform, so I had to use my dad's. I loved my dad, but I can't understand why his school needed the boys to wear my least favorite color of all time!

The pants were fine, a simple black, but I refused to go out into public in this monstrosity. I put on the uniform and shoved a sweater over it as I walked downstairs. I started making breakfast when my mom walked in, ready for work with a smile plastered onto her face. She always did that whenever she was around me, but I knew that it was fake. I sat down to eat my simple bowl of cereal while my mom bustled around the room.

"Minako, your up early." she said in an overly enthusiastic voice.  
"Of course I am, It's my first day of school, remember?" I replied, annoyed at how easily forgotten I really was when it came to my mother.  
"Oh, that's right. Well have fun!" and with that she was gone. I sighed as I washed the dishes and headed out the door with my bag. I walked the four blocks to get to school and got my schedule. That was ok I guess, but it was after school when I was wondering around that it got interesting.

I had my hood up the entire day, so it was hard to see my hair back in its pony tail. I was also pretty flat-chested, so it was hard to tell that I was a girl. I was trying to find one of the music rooms so that I could practice playing the piano. I walked up to the room labeled "music room 3" and opened the door. I was greeted by flower petals and a room full of six boys and a girl in a boys uniform. _Crossdressing?_ I thought to myself as I walked in a bit.  
"Why hello there." said a tall blonde boy with purple eyes. I jumped back a bit when he popped up right in front of me and took my hand.

"You must be an honor student like our little Haruhi!" he said excitedly. I nodded and looked at the girl whose name was Haruhi. She looked like she was a person with a nice personality along with dark brown eyes and hair, so why was she dressed like a boy? Could it be that she doesn't like dresses either?!  
"So, why are you wearing a boys uniform Haruhi?" I asked, unable to hold it in.

She looked a bit shocked, but then she smiled, "I have a debt to repay to these guys and the only way I can do that is to pretend I'm a boy. Welcome to the host club..."  
"Minako Hikari, honor student, first year in the same class as the three of you." a boy with dark hair and glasses said gesturing towards Haruhi and two identical, which I assumed must be twins. The boy pushed up his glasses, making it hard to see his eyes, creeping me out a bit. A light bulb flashed above his head along with Haruhi, who smacked herself in the head and muttered under her breath.

A small blonde boy came up to me with a bunny and said with an adorable grin, "Hi Mina-Chan, my name is Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but you can call me Honey for short!" I couldn't help but smile at the small boy, "Hiya Honey, glad to meet you!". He gasped as a light bulb flashed above his head as he turned to Haruhi, an understanding flashing between the two. He snapped out of his thought and continued the conversation, "This is Takashi, but you can call him Mori! We're both third- years here at Ouran, isn't it great?!"

I felt my jaw drop slightly as he continued on, not noticing my change in expression. _I can't believe that adorable little boy is a third-year!_ I remembered that he was talking and refocused. The twins were Hikaru and Kaoru, the blonde was Tamaki, a second year, and the boy with the glasses was Kyoya, also a second year. They all seemed like nice people, but I still needed to find an empty music room so I could practice. "It was nice meeting you all, but I need to..." I bumped into someone behind me. I spun around, about to apologize, but ended up tripping, knocking a tea set off of a nearby table, sending it crashing to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" I said, turning back and forth between the girl I had run into and the host club.  
"I'll pay for it, I promise!" I rushed, hoping that they weren't mad at me. Haruhi,Honey, and Mori, who seemed to be a part of their little group, all groaned as if this had happened before.  
"I take it that you don't actually have that money, so you will just have to do what Haruhi here has been doing and work as a host to pay off your debt. Although..." he was cut off by an ear-splitting scream from behind me.

"It's really you!" the girl from behind me rushed up to Kyoya while Haruhi took me away from the crowd to help me find what "type" I was. Together, we found that I could be the fun type. I liked anything involved with music and having fun, so it worked out. All I had to do was entertain a bunch of girls for a few hours after school until my debt was paid off. Piece of cake!

We walked back over and heard the girl, Renge, fangirling over Kyoya, "...how sweet it was when you reached out to that poor little injured kitten."  
"Is she serious?" the twins said in perfect unison.  
"Could you have the right person?" Haruhi asked, looking extremely confused.  
"Of course! I'd recognize the love of my life anywhere!" she replied angrily. She kept going on and on while the twins ran around in confusion while Kyoya stood there like an idiot.

As I watched the twins, I realized that they were kinda cute. At one point Tamaki shouted "Otaku!" and the twins flipped out, the three of them running around the room while Kyoya finally pulled it together, shining some light on the strange subject. It was Renge's turn to run around like an idiot as we all gathered around Kyoya while he explained that she thought that he was her fiance from a video game that she played.

"So your not actually engaged to her?" Tamaki asked.  
"Well, no, I don't remember asking for her hand in marriage. Besides, this is the first time I've met the woman." all of us got an annoyed look, wishing that he would have told us that sooner. At some point, she ended up making herself the manager of the club that I joined less than 10 minutes ago. This is going to be a strange experience, but I have a feeling that I can trust them.

* * *

The next day after school I went to the music room and found everyone already there. As soon as I walked in the door, Renge pointed at me, shifting her death glare from the now utterly shocked Tamaki and said, "Minako, you will be still be the fun type, but your background includes the fact that you were in an asylum for a year for acting like a nut-job after your father died. So your the crazy-fun-nut-case that looks out for Haruhi!"

She didn't know it, but she had hit a sore spot, but I kept it down while she continued to rant on about how effective our new characters were. The twins didn't look very happy about the fact that Tamaki was all about being "the lonely prince". Before I knew it, we were shooting a movie. Hikaru and Kaoru were doing there scene on the basketball court. I was supposed to be in the "woods" with Haruhi and try to protect her from Honey, who was the "thug", something I didn't fully understand.

Crap, there's my cue! I ran in as Honey got closer to Haruhi and yelled, "Why don't you go and pick on someone your own size!" He turned to me, a cold stare burning into my soul.  
"Stay out of this, your nothing but a psychopath." as he turned back to Haruhi, I started laughing hysterically like I was supposed to and crossed my eyes, falling to the ground.  
"You know, it really pisses me off when people don't know their place" Honey said. I felt bad when he stayed frozen like that for a bit before breaking down.

I stood up and walked over to Haruhi, the twins, and Kyoya, who were all wondering why this turned into a movie. Renge called for me and Haruhi, so we ran around to the side of the building. There were two really scary looking guys there. Renge said that they were supposed to be in the film, but they didn't seem to understand what she was saying. Haruhi tried to stop Renge as she pulled the two boys onto the set, both looking very unhappy.

One of them snapped and pushed Renge while the other pushed me just because I was in the way. I landed hard on the ground while Renge went flying. Luckily Haruhi was there and saved her.  
"Haruhi, Minako, are you guys ok?"  
"I'm fine, but I don't know about Haruhi" I said as I got up, looking down to see my hands scraped, a bit of blood falling onto the ground. Tamaki and the twins rounded the corner, asking what happened.

Tamaki saw Haruhi crying while the twins stared at me at shock, then charged the other guy. The two guys flipped out and ended up getting saved by Haruhi. They ran away screaming, making me laugh at how funny they looked, when I noticed that the remaining people were all staring at me.  
"Hey Minako, I think they figured out that your a girl." I looked at Haruhi as I reached up to find my hood was down and my hair tie had broken.

Tamaki and Hikaru had their turns to smack themselves in the head while Kaoru blushed slightly. I placed a hand on the back of my head as I returned the blush. "Yeah, so, guess that secrets out. I'm guessing that I'm going to have to change a few things if I don't want to be found out by the rest of the school" They seemed shocked that I was willing to continue pretending to be a boy, but it wasn't long before I was in a blue colored boys uniform with a pixie cut, which I had to admit made me look better than just wearing an old suit from my dad. I guess this means that I'm officially part of the Host Club!

* * *

It's been about a month since I joined the Host Club. Being the "fun type" worked out pretty well and no one questioned my gender. I've come to like every member of this strange club, even Kyoya! I have been hanging with the twins a lot lately. They are fun, mischievous, funny, not to mention cute, and they were really nice to me. The day after Renge's weird movie and my makeover, they came up to me during break. I'm usually by myself in the back of the room, but they came and sat down with me and we became friends easily. They came everyday after that, sort of like a daily routine.

One day they came up to me during club hours wearing green hats and asked me if I wanted to play the "Which one is Hikaru game!". I said yes and they started shuffling themselves. I looked at them closely and found that they weren't as identical as I'd thought. "Hikaru,"I pointed to the twin on the left, "Kaoru" I pointed to the twin on the right.  
"Nope!" they said in unision, "You got it wrong!"

I knew that they were lying, and I got pissed off. "What the hell are you talking about?! I didn't get it wrong! Hikaru is the twin on the left! Do you guys honestly think that I can't tell you a part?!" I yelled, earning astonished looks from both twins.  
"Minako's right, Hikaru's on the left" Haruhi said simply as she walked by.

"H-how did you..."Hikaru asked, unable to finish. Kaoru just stared at me, a slight blush on his face.  
"WHAT?!" I yelled, not liking how the twins along with everyone else in the room was staring at me. Tamaki walked up and explained how Haruhi was the only other person who had won the game. Apparently that had happened right before the twin's massive fight that I missed out on when I was gone for a week on a trip with my mom. It was my turn to blush when I turned back to the twins.  
"Is this really the second time someone has won?" I asked, my voice quiet. When they nodded I could see the sadness in their eyes. If only they knew how lucky they were.


	2. water parks and beaches

I was walking down the street away from campus when a black limo pulled up beside me and a hand grabbed my arm, dragging me into the vehicle. My instincts kicked in and I elbowed whoever had grabbed me in the face and kicked him where it counts. I heard the door shut and laughter, turning to see Tamaki on the floor of the car while Haruhi, Honey, Hikaru, and Kaoru all laughed at the blonde on the floor.

"S-sorry Tamaki Sempai. I thought you were a creepy thug trying to kidnap me". Wrong choice of words. The rest of the ride to... wherever we're going, was spent watching Tamaki sulk while the twins continued to laugh. We pulled up to a massive building. I was about to ask where we were, but before I could me and Haruhi were dragged off and shoved into a dressing room. Haruhi was forced into a pink swimsuit, but I threatened the maids, giving me freedom to choose what I wanted out of the hordes of swimsuits.

I found a dark blue bikini with ruffles on the top, making it a mystery whether I actually looked like a girl or not. Although it was a cute swimsuit, I was still a bit uncomfortable, so I took a pair of swim trunks and put them on over the dark blue bottoms. I stepped outside and found a blushing Tamaki shoving a yellow sweater at Haruhi. I grinned as I walked past them," Come on you dorks, let's go before they come looking for us". They obviously liked each other, but they didn't seem to realize it.

The twins stopped playing with their water guns when we walked over. Hikaru seemed a bit disappointed when he saw Haruhi's sweater, but Kaoru smiled at me, making me blush. I ran towards them, trying to hide my burning face and yelled, "Last one to the slide's a rotten egg!". I ended up losing and they pushed me down the slide before I could make a run for it. When I made it down I got a decent amount of water up my nose, considering they pushed me backwards.

The twins came down shortly after and challenged Tamaki to a water fight. I laughed as I swam over to Honey, who looked really cute in his bunny floatie. Tamaki ran into a pole and the ground started to shake. I looked up and couldn't help but scream when a massive wave came and crashed down on both of us. I stumbled around underwater, trying to hold my breath, squeezing my eyes shut and hoping that I wouldn't drown.

I opened my eyes and found that I was in the middle of a tropical forest. WHAT THE HELL?! I jumped up as I looked around. Honey was nowhere to be seen and it was starting to get cloudy. _Crap, I hope there's no rain. I need to find Honey-Sempai and get back to the others_ I thought as I trudged through the mud. I had been walking for about 30 minutes, scrapes all over, when it started to pour. My walk turned into a run as I searched for the little blonde 3rd-year.

I heard a shout that was soon followed by more shouts. I think I heard Haruhi's name! I sprinted towards the yelling and found myself in a clearing with a bunch of scared soldiers and the host club. Holy crap, I think Honey was the one who beat them up! I started moving into the clearing, stepping over soldiers, when I heard my name. I looked up as Kaoru dashed towards me.

He put his hands on my shoulders, eying me for any massive damage.  
"Are you ok?" he asked in a sweet tone.  
"I-I'm fine" I stuttered, trying not to break down. I didn't want him to know just how scared and alone I had felt. I never knew just how lonely I was up until that point, a feeling I didn't want to feel again anytime soon.

* * *

Here we are at the beach, the sand glittering like a thousand stars, the ocean calling out to me, but what am I doing? Sitting on the GOD-DAMNED SHORE! Tamaki had a "brilliant idea" and decided to make it a host event. That mean that me and Haruhi are boys right now, so we can't get in bathing suits and go into that glorious blue ocean. Haruhi had found a way to have fun by collecting crabs, but I just sat there. Every now and then a group of girls would come up and ask me to swim, so I'd force a smile and politely tell them that I wasn't in the mood.

The twins invited me along with a bunch of other girls and Haruhi to go to a cave with them. I agreed, thinking that I would finally have something to do. We walked into a dark cave with crystals lining the walls. No one else seemed to notice but me. I started to zone out while the twins told a ghost story. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around slowly, slightly bored, to find a creepy looking puppet.  
"What the hell kind of a puppet is this?" I asked while lifting the fake skeletal hand of my shoulder calmly. Haruhi silently did the same. We earned disappointed looks from the twins when they realized they didn't scare us.

Next thing I knew, we were in a massive truck with Honey, who ended up freaking out while Haruhi tried to calm him down and I just stood there laughing. When we got out, Mori was standing there silent as ever with a katana pointed at us.  
"Uh, Mori, your my Sempai, not my sentai." Haruhi said a bit confused. I just shrugged and walked around him.

Soon the sun was setting over the horizon. Oranges, reds, pinks, and purples were painted all over the sky. I heard a shout and looked up to see Haruhi, three girls from the host club, and two random guys. I got up and started running after Tamaki, who dived after the now falling Haruhi into the ocean. I turned to the guys and glared daggers at them. It didn't take very long for me to get pissed off and was soon at it. I punched, jabbed, and kicked wherever I could. At first I was doing pretty well, but two against one isn't the best odds. A guy came up behind me and wacked me upside the head with a massive rock.

I fell to my knees as my head started to pound. I could feel warm blood trickle down my face. I was about to get up when I felt a hand gently push me back down again. I looked up and saw Kaoru, fire in his eyes, a scowl on his face. He turned and started whooping the guy that Hikaru wasn't already beating up. I watched as the girls left and Kyoya came up. He sighed after a while and started to walk forward saying that we should go find Haruhi. He didn't really try to actually get them off of the now unconscious guys, meaning that I had to be the one to step in.

"Guys...GUYS! THAT"S ENOUGH!" They stopped and looked at me. At first all I could see was hatred in their eyes, making me back away a bit, but then they dropped their victims as the hatred vanished and walked over to me.  
"Sorry" they muttered in unison. I sighed and grabbed both of their wrists as I marched down the cliff, my head still pounding, towards the ocean to find Tamaki and Haruhi. I could hear him yelling before we made it all the way down. Why the hell was he yelling at her?!

I let go of the twins and ran up next to Haruhi, ready to defend her. "Why the hell are you yelling at her Tamaki Sempai?! She's right, she couldn't just stand there and watch the girls get hurt! Usually when you save someone, you don't start yelling at them for not being able to protect themselves! Did Link yell at Zelda after he saved her from Ganondorf?! NO, he didn't, he hugged her and smiled because he was happy that she was safe!"

"You are just like Haruhi! Look at you! Your head is bleeding and she almost drowned and you expect me to not yell at her for this?! I don't want my precious daughter and niece (his nickname for me) to be hurt because they couldn't protect themselves! Your as reckless and stupid as she is!" he screeched back at me. Haruhi started yelling at him while I ran back to the house. I didn't come out of my room until it was time for dinner.

I walked in silence with Haruhi, who was in a cute pink dress, and Mori. I kept my head down when we walked in, not wanting to accidentally make eye contact with someone, especially Tamaki. It was really awkward when I ended up sitting right next to said blonde with Haruhi on his other side, the twins right across from me. I just stared at my crab while Haruhi inhaled hers. After a while of listening to Haruhi and Tamaki bicker at each other, I finally picked up a piece of crab and ate some.

Tamaki jumped up and yelled at Haruhi, then he turned on me, startling my already fragile state, and yelled at me before storming out. I just sat there in utter shock. I calmed down a bit and came back to reality while Hikaru was talking. "You know, the boss has a point. You both shouldn't have run in like that."  
"You worried all of us" Honey said sweetly.

Crud, I felt bad now. I had cleaned up the cut on my forehead, but there was a scar that I was trying to hide under my bangs, hoping that no one would notice and worry, but it seems that they already were. Haruhi said she was sorry for causing everyone so much trouble. I found my voice, although it was barely audible, and stuttered, "I-I'm sorry too. The last thing I wanted to do was make you guys worried". I looked up and found myself staring into Kaoru's beautiful golden eyes. He had a soft smile on, as if trying to tell me that it was ok. Haruhi made a noise and all of us were up and ran her off to the nearest restroom. Too much crab, what a dork. We left after she was securely in a bathroom, getting all the crab she had just finished putting in her system back out again.

I looked outside and saw that it had started to pour. A feeling of dread washed over me. _Please, not again! _  
"H-hey you guys? Do you think there will be thunder and... and lightning? As in a thunderstorm?" I asked, hoping against hope that the answer would be no.  
"Yeah, why Mina-Chan?" Of course it's a yes. That's just peachy.  
"N-no reason... I've gotta go. BYE!" I said anxiously before running off to my room.

God not again! I ran straight into my room and closed the door behind me. Big mistake. It was now pitch dark in the room. I froze, standing in the middle of the room as the rain rammed against my window. Then it came. A massive roll of thunder and a flash right outside my window. I fell to my knees and sat there in the middle of the dark room, holding my hands on my head. The next roll made me scream in agony. _Why? WHY? WHY!?_ _MAKE IT STOP! _

My door flew open as another roll came around, making me scream in fear. I heard the door close, extinguishing the light I had.  
"NO! THE LIGHT! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE LIGHT!" I screamed, tears now streaming down my face.I felt a pair of hands on mine and heard a voice say my name. I know that voice. I lifted my head and saw Kaoru looking down at me, concern written all over his face.

I sat up slowly, his hands still holding my shaking ones. Another flash and roll and I flung myself at him. He held me as I cried into his shirt. After a while I calmed down a bit and decided that he deserved an explanation.  
"Hey, Kaoru"  
"Yeah?"  
"Sorry about this, it's just that..."

**Flashback to two years ago: **

I was walking home from a nice day at middle school. I had aced a test, made up with a friend I had recently fought with, and was ready to see my dad. My dad was amazing. He was always out-going and always encouraging me to follow my dreams. I walked in the door and found that it was empty. _That's strange_. My older brother wasn't there along with my parents. My brother was usually there unless he was at a friends house and mom would be working, but my dad would always be home to greet me.

I put my stuff on the counter and got ready to make some dinner when the phone started to ring.  
"Hello this is Minako speaking"  
"_Hi Minako, is your mom or brother there?" _a man's voice came from the other end.  
"No, it's just me. Do you want me to leave a message for them?"

"_No it's just... wait are you alone?"  
"_Yes, why? Do you know where my dad is?"  
"_That's why I called. Your dad had a heart attack at work and is currently at the hospital.I think he would appreciate it if you come to see him. He's in a pretty critical condition."  
_I dropped the phone and ran as fast as my legs could carry me.

I raced into the hospital and asked where my dad was. The nurse told me the room number and I was off again. I raced up about 4 flights of stairs and made it to room 309. There he was, lying on the bed. "Dad?"  
"Hey there shrimp? What's up?"  
"What do you mean what's up?!I just got a phone call saying that you had a heart attack!"

"Eh, no big deal... where's your mother?"  
"I don't know, work I guess. Are you going to be ok?"  
"What about your brother?" he asked, completely ignoring me.  
"I don't know! Now answer my question!"  
"I'll be fine" he said before he started coughing uncontrollably.

It started to rain outside while I watched my father cough and his heart rate go up.  
"Dad? DAD!" He wouldn't stop coughing and his heart rate was really jacked up. All of the monitors were starting to go haywire. I hurried over to him and held his hand.  
"DAD!" Then he went rigid and stopped, along with the monitors. They all read 0. I looked back at my father, who was staring into space, not breathing. No. No,no,no,no!  
"DAD! DAD PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME! DADDY!" I yelled shaking him.

A few doctors and nurses came in. One of the doctors picked me up and dragged me away from my dad. "NOOOO!"  
"Minako. MINAKO! Listen to me! You need to calm down!I know this is hard for this to happen to a girl at your age, but I'm afraid that you father is..."  
"NO! HE IS NOT DEAD! He-he can't be." I pulled away and ran as fast as I could home. The rain was now pouring. Tears streamed down my face as I ran inside my house. I locked myself in my room as the power went out, a roll of thunder shaking my very bones.

My mom didn't speak to me for a weak. My brother soon moved out shortly after my father's death. We moved and I distanced myself from everyone. I was able to block what happened that night out of my head, giving myself a dull numbness, helping to ease the pain. Although it worked, I found that every time there was a thunderstorm, I would be locked in my room, flashes of that night taking hold of my vision. Every roll of thunder brought an image of my father lying cold and dead. Every flash of lightning brought the lights on those monitors. It was my own personal hell.

**End of Flashback:**

Another roll of thunder went by and I gripped Kaoru's shirt tighter.  
"God Minako, you went through all of that as a 2nd-year in middle school? Your braver than I thought." I laughed bitterly.  
"So, you're scared of being alone in a thunderstorm?" I nodded.  
"Guess it's a good thing I'm here than, 'cause now you can't be alone anymore."

"Thank you" I whispered, enveloped in comfort and safety. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep in his arms, tired from crying so much. When I woke up, I found myself staring at a sleeping Kaoru. _He's really cute when he sleeps._ I laughed silently at the thought. I looked at the clock and realized it was time to go. I gently shook the boy awake.  
"Wakey-wakey sleepy head." I whispered. He slowly opened his eyes and a blush formed on both of our faces at how close we were. As we walked down the hallway, I said, "Hey, thanks for last night. You're a lot nicer by yourself than with your counterpart" Both of us laughed as we walked into the bright sunlight.


	3. lobelia and secrets

_I was going to update earlier, but when I finished writing the chapter and went to submit it, it said a bunch of weird stuff leading to the whole thing getting deleted. So here is chapter 3 completely written over again. I also have read the reviews and would like to apologize for my lack of imagination and accuracy in this story. Please know that it was not my intention to make the character so much like Haruhi, it just kinda happened, so try and enjoy what you can. Thanks:)  
_

* * *

Lobelia. I hate that school. All of the girls there are as rich as the Ouran girls, except there are no boys to balance out the snobs. I bet you can guess how pissed off I was when one of them showed up and caught Haruhi when she slipped on a banana. She immediately recognized us as girls and called us maidens, sending shivers up my spine. To my utter horror she walked with us all the way to the host club, only to find two more of them. WHY ARE THEY TOUCHING ME?!

I shut my eyes wishing it would end soon, all the while thinking _God damn with these stupid rich chicks._ They finally let go and the doors opened up to reveal the host club in medieval costumes.  
"COOL! Where's mine? Do I get to be a knight?!" I asked as I rushed over to the twins, who were now handing me my costume with a grin on each of their faces. I dashed to the dressing room, completely forgetting about the Lobelia girls.

I looked in the mirror as I finished putting on the suit. The armor was a bright silver, teal streaks swirling an intricate design on the breast plate. The cloth was a sunset orange, creating the perfect blend of colors, making my eyes and hair stand out. I skipped out into the room and twirled around before pulling out the sword that was buckled to my side taking a defensive pose.  
"What do you think?! I'll save any damsel in need of my protection!" I yelled excitedly.

My face fell when I found that the host club had already changed back into their uniforms and looked both bored and, which hurt more, uninterested. Why did they give me the costume if the weren't going to wear their own? I can't believe I got put out again. Before I turned to the leader of the Lobelia girls, I caught a glance at Kaoru. I swear I saw him smile at me, but I'm not really sure.  
"I should like both of you to come and join us at Lobelia. It will be a much better place for you young ladies than with these idiots. Men never think about what a maiden feels, remember that." Then they twirled off...TWIRLED! Who in their right mind does that?!

I felt both shocked and rejected. Shocked that the psycho Lobelia had actually said something like that and rejected because the host club didn't wait for me to change. I left the room before Haruhi and walked all the way home. I didn't even realize the fact that I was still a knight until I changed into my pajamas. I sighed as I climbed into bed and turned out the light. I can't leave Ouran, even if I feel lonely sometimes, I made a promise that I intend to keep. They are crazy if they think that me and Haruhi will up and leave when we've worked so hard to get where we are now.

...

I walked down the hallway towards music room #3 with Haruhi. She told me that the pencil that she lost a few days ago had been found by the twins, who in turn gave it to Kyoya. Turns out he sold it. I would have been mad like she was if had been my pencil. It writes and draws so easily, making amazing movements on the paper. We continued to talk when I stuck my arm out in front of Haruhi as I stopped dead in my tracks. Well isn't this just fan-fricking-crap-tastic!

I just tuned the three girls out and stood frozen as they turned one at a time to talk to us. I stiffly followed Haruhi into the music room, wondering why it was so dark. High pitched singing was heard, except for an extremely deep one, and the lights turned on, revealing the host club with big poofy dresses, wigs, and WAY too much make up. I studied each one as Tamaki ranted on and on, his dress adding to the silliness of a normal rant from the prince. All off them except for Mori was in a dress, the make up obviously done by Honey, Kyoya didn't have any make up, the dresses probably from the twins.

I glanced at Haruhi and our eyes met, a sort of message passing between us... we fell to the ground laughing. They actually got Kyoya to wear a dress! Haruhi started slamming her fist into the ground barely able to call them goofballs while I just slammed my back into the ground and started laughing. Tears soon came from laughing to hard as I ran out of breath and my face got red. I started standing up when the twins and Honey came right up to us, making us laugh even more. They started chasing us saying "call me big sister!" over and over.

Kaoru started chasing me, my vision blurred from the tears of laughter, blocking my view from the banana peel on the ground. I fell flat on my face, hitting a book on the way down. I heard a voice and found myself face to face with Kaoru, sending a laughing fit through my body once more. He smiled and used his sleeve to wipe off the make up and pulled off his wig before lifting up my bangs to find a bruise forming on my forehead. His smile changed to a frown as I felt warm hands on the scar I had been hiding.  
"The beach?" was all he asked, concern and a tint of anger in his amber orbs. I nodded as I looked at the ground, hoping that he wouldn't yell at me for not telling him.

"Why did you guys do this?" I heard Haruhi, making me look back up, wanting the same answer.  
"We didn't want you to leave" Hikaru said to Haruhi while his twin said the same in unison to me.  
"There is no way in hell I would get dragged into that school, let alone go there willingly. Especially if all the girls are like them!" I said pointing to the horror struck Zuka club. "Besides," I muttered as I stood up with Kaoru, "I promised my dad that I would get my education here so that I can follow my dream."

"I can't wait to meet you dad Mina-Chan! I bet he's funny and nice just like you!" Honey said as he came up to me, Mori not far behind. Kaoru shot a death glare at the small 3rd year, confusing his twin. Hikaru walked over and put an arm around his brother, calming him down a bit.  
"It would be nice to meet your family and see what your house is like. Got a specific date in mind?"  
"Whenever I guess." I replied, thinking that they wouldn't care enough to show up, still thinking about the costumes yesterday. Boy was I wrong.

* * *

I walked up to the door as the knocking increased, wondering who could possibly want to come to this house when my mom wasn't home. I opened the door and found the host club in front of me.  
"Y-you guys actually came?!" I asked in disbelief as I stepped aside, allowing the six boys and girl to come in.  
"Of course we came" Hikaru said as he lead the group inside. They all sat down around the table as I shut the door, trying to contain my excitement. I never had people come to see me before, it was always mom.

I remembered my manners and rushed to the fridge and asked if anyone wanted something to eat or drink.  
"Do you have any cake?" a voice that was unmistakeably Honey's asked. I smiled and got out the cake that was meant for later today and started cutting it up into slices. Then I got out a bunch of strawberry's and washed them. I put the red fruit in a bowl and set it on the table along with the cake.  
"You can put as many strawberry's as you want on your cake." I said cheerfully as Honey's eyes widened at all the fruit and cake I had given him.

Honey got up and hugged me, his words muffled by my blue shirt, "Thank you Mina-Chan!" I hugged him back, unable to resist the adorableness. As if by instinct, I looked at Kaoru when Honey sat down and got a confused look on my face as I watched him smack his own face. When the twin realized I was staring at him his face turned a light shade of pink. The pink deepened in shade when I gave him a warm smile, trying to reassure him.

"Where's your family Mina-Chan?" Honey asked, making my eyes once again lock with Kaoru's.  
"My mom won't be back from work until late tonight and my brother moved out about two years ago." I replied with a sigh, hoping against hope that he wouldn't ask about my dad.  
"What about your dad Minako?" Kaoru's eyes widened at his brothers remark.  
"My dad died about two years ago shortly before my brother moved out. It isn't exactly my favorite topic.

The group that was so cheery just a few moments ago got a sudden aura that practically screamed "depressed!".  
"Hey, how about we go to a 'commoner park'!" I said, hoping that they would stop looking so sad. It worked. It wasn't long until we were at the park, which as usual, was empty. Tamaki, Hikaru, Kaoru, Honey, and even Haruhi ran off. I looked back at the two remaining boys and shrugged before taking off myself, Mori not far behind.

I ran straight for the swings as I heard Tamaki ask Kyoya if he was coming, only to get "I have something I need something to look up" as an answer. I sat down in the seat and felt hands push me lightly. I turned and found myself staring at those beautiful amber eyes.  
"You gonna push me Kaoru?"  
"Of course princess" he replied with a grin.

Once I was high enough, he got his own swing. I closed my eyes as the sun danced on my skin and the breeze filled my lungs, bringing sweet scents to my nose. I reached up with one hand as I came forward, letting the wind slip through my fingers. Kaoru did the same, and I unconsciously reached over and grabbed his hand as we went backwards in sync. He looked at me, a bit puzzled by my sudden reach, but then he laughed and gave my hand a squeeze. Kaoru gasped and tightened his grip on my hand as we jumped off the swing together, a plan set in his mind.

He pulled me up onto the play structure and motioned for me to go first down the slide. I looked away as a blush formed on my face and held up our intertwined hands.  
"Well I guess we will just have to go down together then." he said slyly, making me turn back to look at the twin, a mischievous grin now on his face. He sat down, arm outstretched, and motioned with his free hand for me to sit in front of him. I sat down and he wrapped his arms around me. Then we were off.

We ran around seeing what else we could do while holding hands. Honey and Mori joined us along with a blushing Hikaru with Haruhi, Tamaki yelling at them the whole time about how he should be paired up with his "little girl". I ended up trading places with Kaoru and dragged him to another slide and wrapped his arms around me, leaning into him the whole way down. When we made it to the bottom, he held me back when I started to run again, one eyebrow raised in an amused look.  
"What?"  
"I didn't know you like having me this close.

Before my new blush could set in, Kyoya called us all over. Once we were all gathered, he said, "It seems that our hostess has been keeping a secret from us." _Crap! I can't believe he figured it out! He must of been looking up about my parents and found out! _I thought as the members of the host club all turned to look at me.  
"Today is Miss Hikari's birthday, explaining why we came to the park and the cake we ate earlier." he said hitting it spot on.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?! Don't you trust your uncle?! MOMMA!"  
"Happy Birthday Mina-Chan! Sorry for eating your cake!"  
"...yeah..."  
"You should have told me Minako, I could have gotten you something."

"I'm sorry Tamaki, I didn't think it was that important, please calm down... Thank you Honey, and it's fine, I was planning on eating that cake by myself. I'm glad that I got to share it...thanks for showing you care Mori... Haruhi, you already have too much on your mind, it wouldn't feel right if you went out and got me a present... and why are you two grinning at me like that?!" I rushed out, trying to talk to everyone.

"Since you didn't tell us that it was your birthday-"  
"You have to be punished by letting us throw you a party"  
"You guys meet up at our house in an hour-"  
"We'll take care of Minako" the twins said, finishing each others sentences as usual. So now I'm being dragged off to a host club birthday party by tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum. What am I going to do?!

"


	4. summer dates and freedom

**Note from Minako to readers: **_Hey guys! I just realized that I already told you that both me and Haruhi are girls, so I can tell you the truth about earlier. The host club already knew I was a girl when I entered music room #3, but they flipped out when I easily recognized Haruhi was a girl, so they gave me a make over and made_ _me a part of the host club, dressed me up as a guy, and said that I broke a tea set and I owed them money like Haruhi. I did break a tea set, but they were already throwing it out, so they didn't actually care. Also, just to clear things up, I did get hurt during Renge's film, but it turns out that Kaoru's blush was actually just way to much blush, as in make up. I guess I was just hoping it was one of those love at first sight moments because I'm sappy like that. The day after, the only reason the twins came up to me was because of a bet they made with Haruhi and lost, but after a while they did start to open up. Again, old romantic, trying to make myself feel special. Anyways, back to the party!_

* * *

I know that my house is generally small, but damn this house is huge! It's not even a house, it's like a mansion! I knew these guys were rich, but seriously, a MANSION?! The twins pulled me into the house, my jaw practically dragging on the ground. They continued to pull me up a massive staircase and into a room, where a bunch of maids were waiting for us with dresses.  
"Oh no! No,no,no,no,n,n,n,NO! I am NOT wearing a dress! I absolutely refuse!" I rushed out, being dead serious as I glared at the twins, who had let go of my arms.

"I guess we'll just have to dress you ourselves then" Hikaru fake sighed, a slight grin on his face while his brother nodded in agreement, an act of distress on his face.  
"NO! I'll put a dress on ok?! Just get OUT!" I yelled as I pushed the brothers out of the room. I slammed the door shut and spun around, a bunch of maids smiling at me evilly.  
"I don't need your help, I can dress myself thank you very much." I growled as I pushed the girls aside and started looking for a dress that wouldn't be to out there.

After a while of looking around, I found a strapless dark blue dress that came down about 2 inches below my knees. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple dress. I came out and the girls frowned at me. Not pretty enough I guess. They dragged me off and put make up on my face, then tucked a white flower behind my ear. Then they gave me a silver chain necklace with a small heart on it, along with silver bracelets. They put me in front of a mirror and I had to admit that I looked kinda pretty.

While one of the girls escorted downstairs, I thanked her for doing such a wonderful job with my appearance and that I appreciated it. She simply smiled at me as we walked into the now decorated ballroom where the host club stood in suits. All of the members except Haruhi that is. She had a frilly pink dress on with a matching pink hairband.  
"Haruhi! You look so cute!" I shouted as I ran across the room to give her a hug.

I let go and turned towards the boys, a serious look on my face, and said sternly, "If any of you make a dirty move on my little wonder girl I swear I will cut you!". Wonder girl is the nickname that I've been calling her ever since she told me about a crazy dream that she had. It was like a twisted host club version of Alice in Wonderland. Anyways, the boys all sweat dropped, making me smile at their understanding.  
"Good, now lets go get some of that fancy tuna you like so much Haruhi!" I laughed as I dragged her over to the food.

I watched as Mori and Honey started dancing together as the music started up. As soon as Haruhi finished her food I dragged her onto the dance floor as a new song came on. Oh my god I love this song! I started randomly moving my arms as I held my friends hands and twirled her around. There was a tap on my shoulder as one of the slower songs came on. I stood aside and let Tamaki dance with his "little girl". I started walking back to the food table when someone grabbed my arm and spun me around. Kaoru.

"May I have this dance princess?"  
"Of course my dear prince." We danced for the rest of the song. It was an amazing feeling. His hand on my waist, mine on his shoulder, gliding across the dance floor. The song ended and a new one came on, also slow. Me and Haruhi were spun from partner to partner. After about a half hour of dancing to different songs, a spotlight landed on me and a cake was carried along with presents. A single tear escaped me as I walked up to the table.  
"Happy birthday Minako!" the host club shouted. I was so lucky to have such great friends.

* * *

It was finally summer break. Although I was happy to have a break from school, I was sad that I wouldn't see my friends.  
"Mina-Chan!" I turned to see Honey dash up to me, Mori not far behind.  
"Honey-Sempai? Mori-Sempai? What are you guys doing here?" I asked in disbelief.  
"Tama-Chan told us to come pick you up. We're all going to go see Haruhi!"

A limo pulled up and the three of us got in. It was fun just being with Honey and Mori. He actually said a few sentences, which was an amazing thing to witness. We pulled up to the meeting spot and the seven of us walked over to the place Haruhi was working at. I was so happy that I was with my friends after all that I didn't even realize that I was skipping down the street. That is, until I tripped over a rock and fell on my face again. I got up and laughed as we walked up to the house.

There was only one room left, so it became a contest courtesy to Hikaru and Kaoru. Glad I decided to wear my baggy shorts, T-shirt, and hat on this trip, 'cause I get to participate too!  
"Is there anything you would like me to do Miss?" I asked Haruhi's boss, ready to compete. She set me to work on the garden next to Tamaki and Honey. The day went by quickly, and the twins ended up winning. Lucky bastards, I don't have any private property or special vacation house to go to.  
"Hey Minako, you don't have a place to stay do you?" Haruhi said, reading my mind. "You can stay in my room if you want..."  
"I CALL THE FLOOR!" I screamed as I dashed outside to get my stuff.

Before we drove here, Mori and Honey stopped at my house so I could pack and leave a note for my mom (not that she would actually notice that I was gone), so Honey and Mori let me leave my belongings with them. I grabbed them from the silently waiting 3rd year and smiled warmly up at him before dashing back inside to our room. That guy is so tall! I came back downstairs after a while and almost got pushed off the balcony by Hikaru. When I regained my balance, the same happened with Kaoru. What the hell is going on?!

I finally made it down the stairs and found that there was a new member in the room along with a very pissed off Haruhi. Apparently he was a friend of Haruhi's from middle school. I smiled and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Minako Hikari. Any friend of Haruhi's is a friend of mine, so it's nice to meet you friend!" He seemed like a nice guy, so I was a bit sad when he left. Kaoru came back downstairs dressed like Hikaru and apologized to my new friend. (_Sorry, can't remember his name!_) As soon as he was out of range Haruhi asked why he was dressed like his twin.

I listened to the story about how Hikaru had snapped at the guy that just left and the whole showdown that happened between Hikaru and Haruhi. The next part caught me a bit off guard. Kaoru turned to Haruhi and said, "Hey Haruhi, I was wondering if you would go on a date with me tomorrow." I felt myself shatter into a million little pieces. I turned and walked into the house up to the room that we were sharing. As soon as I walked in, I collapsed on the floor. _Do I really have that big of a crush on him? _I thought as I fell asleep even though it was only around 7:00.

I woke up to the sound of my roommate being dragged out of bed. When I heard the door shut, I opened my eyes and sat up groggily. I sighed as I stood up and got dressed. Let's see... yellow tank top, blue shorts, and my hat from yesterday. I walked out of my room and headed downstairs and found to my surprise that Kaoru was still there even though Haruhi left for their date about 10 minutes ago. I followed Kaoru and the rest of the host club to a small shop.

I heard Tamaki yelling as I snuck up behind the group of boys. I felt a great weight leave my shoulders when I realized that Kaoru had faked being sick so he could get Hikaru to take his place during the date.  
"So that's what we're doing? Stalking your brother on the date that you set up for him?" I asked, scaring the crap out of everyone. God they were morons. We followed the pair around all day. It was hard trying to keep Tamaki from butting in, but I didn't really care, it was fun walking around town, holding back a crazed Tamaki, and (the best part) getting to spend the whole day talking with Kaoru.

We lost them at some point as the sky started getting cloudy. We ran for cover while Tamaki frantically dialed Hikaru's number. He started yelling at him as soon as he picked up. He yelled at him asking where he was... where Haruhi was... go and find her... that he was an idiot... and Haruhi is afraid of thunder... Wait, Thunder? As in we're in a thunder storm? Holy crap!  
"Kaoru. Kaoru!" I said tugging on his shirt.  
"What." he replied some what distracted as he waited for news of his brother.

"Kaoru, we're in a thunderstorm!" I said excitedly, sounding like a complete idiot.  
"Yeah, I know."  
"You don't understand. _I _am in a _thunderstorm_." It finally clicked and he looked at me in awe.  
"I'M IN A THUNDERSTORM!" I yelled, throwing up my arms and jumping up and down like a little kid. My fear had finally been broken. My fear of being alone, of being surrounded by all of that horror, had evaporated into thin air and I hadn't even realized it until now.

Tamaki hung up and stared at me, wondering why I was yelling so much and being captain obvious. We started running back to the house, believing that Hikaru would take care of Haruhi. The boys ran under cover of the shops, Kaoru smiling and laughing both at and with me as I ran straight out into the now empty streets.  
"THUNDERSTOOOOORM!" I yelled as I ran, jumped, skipped, and danced back to the house, reveling in my new found freedom.


	5. sickness

Tomorrow is our first day back from summer break and Haruhi has already been kidnapped. To top that off, I woke up this morning and learned that running around in the rain the other day was an extremely bad idea. I woke up and immediately felt my head start to pound. I stumbled over to the bathroom and took a shower. Didn't help in the slightest. I stumbled back to my room and got dressed. As soon as I finished putting my shirt on, my cell vibrated. I looked at the text and headed over to Haruhi's house to meet up with the host club.

I walked up to the group of boys and forced a smile. "Hey guys!" Mori gave me a funny look as we started up the stairs to Haruhi's house. Tamaki opened the door and a nice looking lady showed up at the door. I laughed when she started standing on Tamaki's head. The lady looked at me curiously.  
"Hi, I'm Minako Hikari, a friend of Haruhi's. I wasn't here last time the host club visited. It's very nice to meet you Miss..."  
"Ranka. You can call me Ranka. It's so nice to finally meet you. Your the only girl in the host club correct?" I nodded. I really like Ranka, she seems like a nice and funny person. She also reminds me of Tamaki in a strange way.

We asked where Haruhi was and learned to our utter horror that she had been kidnapped by the zuka club. We all rushed over to Lobelia, making my head hurt more. Mori saw that I was falling behind and stopped, lifted me up, and placed me on his back.  
"Don't push yourself." was all he said before running to catch up with the others.

"Hey Mori, how are Ranka and Haruhi related?" I asked softly as we sped ahead of the now panting group.  
"He's her dad."  
"Wait, what?! HE?!" Mori chuckled as the school came into sight. So Ranka is a cross dresser. That's pretty legit considering I couldn't tell he was a man. We found the room that Haruhi was in and watched from the outside.

I learned three things while I was squatting outside that window.

zuka club is creepier than ever

really sucks at acting

3. I really should have eaten something before I left

I stood up dizzily and rushed around the corner and got rid of what little was left in my system in a bush.  
"Here" I jumped at the sudden voice that was behind me. I turned and looked up at the tall boy.  
"T-thank you" I stammered as I took the granola bar from Mori and silently nibbled the compacted oats.

We walked back around the corner only to continue walking into an auditorium wearing Lobelia shirts. The lights dimmed and the show started. I love Haruhi, but I couldn't stand watching this crap. I put in my headphones and listened to music until the end. I felt a cold sweat coming on.  
"Is it just me or is really warm in here?" I accidentaly asked out loud.

A massive picture of Haruhi kissing a girl came on a giant screen on stage, making Haruhi's dad and the main Lobelia girl scream in anger. She started yelling and leaned in towards Haruhi.  
"Haruhi!" I yelled as I made for the stage, Tamaki not far behind. Tamaki caught Haruhi... sort of... leaving me to deal with psycho #1. She started running towards Haruhi but I blocked her.  
"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do this." I said with an evil grin on my face.

I kept blocking her until she made a move to shove me out of the way. I grabbed her arm and twisted it before kneeing her in the face. I turned away, believing my work was done, when she grabbed my leg and yanked me down. I watched as the world sped by as I was pulled downwards. I landed on my hands and knees, which I would have under normal circumstances been able to get back up again, but I was shaking so much from both intense heat and cold at the same time, my vision sliding in and out of focus that I couldn't find the strength to get up.

I felt someone pull me up and start running, dragging me along with them. We ran all the way back to Haruhi's house. When we stopped, I heard Mori's voice say that I shouldn't have pushed myself. Then I heard a voice right next to me yell at him, but his voice became a muffled noise booming in my ears.  
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I just need a bit of rest..." I said as I began to fall and heard a few shouts. I felt myself land on the ground and the world went dark.

* * *

**Host club point of view:**

Mori had been trying to get Minako to take it easy because he saw that she was sick. He was used to taking care of Honey, but he had grown a bond with this girl. She was like a little sister to him and he didn't want her to get hurt, so why did she have to be so stubborn and push herself so much?! Honey had noticed Mori's uneasiness and asked his cousin what was wrong, but all he got was a shrug. Only now, when the first year had blacked out in front of Haruhi's house, had he finally realized why Takashi was so tense.

Tamaki was so busy worrying about his little girl that he hadn't even noticed Minako was sick. What kind of uncle was he if he couldn't take care of his niece?! He turned to see if the twins had noticed if she was sick like Mori, but found (a bit happily) that he wasn't the only one. It was true that Hikaru was worried for the girl, but not as worried as his twin. When Kaoru saw Minako race up and face that Lobelia girl, he smiled at how determined she was, but that smile quickly disappeared when she fell and didn't get back up. Usually she'd bounce back up and start laughing at herself, but instead of doing that, Minako just stayed on her hands and knees. Kaoru was able to see her shaking from where he was standing.

He raced up to the stage and grabbed his classmate's hand, pulling her away just as her opponent took a swing at her.  
"So sorry, I'm afraid that I'll be taking her now." the twin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he gave the zuka leader his famous grin . He ran after Tamaki and Haruhi out of the auditorium and followed them back to the commoner house. He looked back every now and then and always found a very pale girl attached to his hand, which felt a lot warmer than it should.

"I told you to take it easy," Mori said.  
"What is that supposed to mean?!" Kaoru asked hysterically.  
"I'm fine, I'm fine, I just need a bit of rest..." Minako said as she started falling towards the ground. The twins, Haruhi, Tamaki, and Honey all shouted her name as she hit the ground, Kaoru still holding onto her now limp hand.

Kaoru dropped said hand and rushed over to her head and started lifting her from underneath her arms. His brother grabbed her feet and together they carried the pale girl into the Haruhi's house, placing her gently on the floor, a pillow beneath her head.  
"Mori-Sempai, I know you're the silent one and all, but you had better explain what's going on!" Tamaki demanded. The 3rd years eyes widened a bit before sighing.

"When Minako showed up earlier, she had a fever. She threw up at Lobelia due to lack of food when we were outside the practice room. I told her to take it easy, but she's stubborn. Minako pushed herself and made her fever worse, leading to this." Mori said as he gestured to said girl on the ground. The members of the host club were amazed at both Minako's stubbornness and the fact that Mori said more than one sentence.

Kaoru looked down at the girl laying next to him. Why didn't she tell them? Didn't she trust them? Didn't she trust _him_? Wait a minute, what was he thinking?! Could it be that he liked Minako as more than a friend? He was snapped out of his confusing thoughts when Ranka came in with a thermometer. Everyone held their breath as they waited for the beep and the announcement of Minako's condition. The beep was heard and the air itself grew still.  
"102.4. She can stay here until she wakes up, but then I need you lovely boys to take her home to get more rest." Ranka proclaimed once he looked at Minako's temperature.

_102.4?! She should have stayed home with a fever like that! She should really open up to others more!_ Kaoru thought to himself before realizing that's exactly how he and Hikaru had been up until they met Haruhi and Minako. Everyone except Ranka was sitting around the unconscious girl. Haruhi was putting a wet cloth on Minako's forehead while Honey got up and came back with a blanket. Without thinking, Kaoru moved a strand of hair out of Minako's face, and it hit him that he really liked this girl. The twin quickly moved his hand, receiving a smirk from his brother. He looked back at Minako and sighed, taking in this new discovery. He, Kaoru Hitachin, had a crush on Minako Hikari, a commoner.

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes and heard hushed voices as my memory all came rushing back to me. I quickly sat up, sending a throbbing pain through my head. "Where's Haruhi?! Did we win?! I didn't pass out, I'm perfectly fine!" I quickly rushed out. I took in my surroundings while trying to avoid eye contact with the host club. I was on the floor in the middle of Haruhi's living room. That was really nice of them...  
"MINA-CHAN! YOU'RE OK!" Honey shouted as he launched himself at me, bringing me into a bear hug.

"It's ok Honey-Sempai, I was just a bit tired, that's all." I said trying to soothe the now crying blonde boy in my arms.  
"You call a fever of 102 _just being tired?!_" Tamaki asked in disbelief.  
"Yes, because I don't have a fever. Thank you for your concern, but I'm perfectly fine. What I want to know is if Haruhi..."  
"Would you stop?!" Kaoru yelled, making me freeze. "Why can't you just let us help you?! We're friends right, so why can't you just tell us when somethings wrong instead of holding it all in?! Why do commoners always have to be like that?! You always put others first and never think about yourself until the very end! Why can't you just be like everyone else and be selfish?! Is that really so much to ask?!"

Why was he yelling at me? "I don't want to be selfish if it means that I will hurt my friends!" I yelled back, my head pulsing again. "You have your own problems to deal with, so what right do I have to add my problems to your?! I REFUSE TO BECOME LIKE MY MOTHER! I REFUSE TO HURT THE ONLY FRIENDS THAT I HAVE!" They all just stared at me as a few tears came to my eyes. I couldn't take it anymore. I jumped up, almost falling again, and stuttered, "I- I have to go. Thanks Haruhi..." and ran home without looking back.

* * *

_Sorry for the short chapter, I'll try to make the next one longer, promise!  
_


	6. pup or shadow killer?

I nervously walked down the halls of Ouran after school. I was still sick, but not as bad as yesterday. I didn't have the leisure to lose a day of school, so I just had to suck it up. I stopped with my hand on the handle to the music room. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and opened the door. At first it was business as usual, but when the host club saw me, everyone got quiet, even the guests. Keeping my head down, I walked over to my table with my own guests. Meh, it's to quiet, completely different from the usual mood.  
"Hiya guys! It's nice to see you again! How was your break?!" I said cheerily as I lifted my head and forced a smile.

It went back to normal, but I kept my eyes away from the other hosts, especially the table that the twins were sitting at. I kept forcing myself to smile and laugh until host hours finally ended. As soon as the last guest was out the door I made to get my bag, but a very tall 3rd year got in my way.  
"You're still sick" was all he said. Nonetheless, it was enough to make everyone flip out. I moved my bangs so that they covered my eyes and stared hard at the ground.  
"I'm sorry that unlike you rich idiots, I actually have to worry about my future! I can't afford to lose a single day of school! Besides, my fever went down to 100 this morning, so just calm down. You said it yourself, rich people are selfish, so start acting like it." I stood up and walked around Mori, my bangs still over my eyes.

I managed to walk off campus and half a block down the street before I broke out into a run and headed to the park. _What is wrong with them?! Why don't they understand?!_ I thought as a slide came into view. _Almost. There... _I felt a hard grip on my arm before being spun around. My eyes met an amber gaze. _Sweet cologne, softer expression, those eyes... Crap, it's Kaoru!_ I tried pulling away, but his grip was firm, so I shut my eyes and braced myself for him to yell at me again.  
"I'm sorry." The words were so soft and sudden that I opened my eyes and found sadness instead of anger in his amber orbs.

He dropped my arm. I began to back away and fell backwards over the swing, landing on my back.  
"Ow... You know, I think I'm going to stay like this for a while" I joked, thinking that I had heard wrong. Or not. Kaoru laid down next to me, both of us looking up at the clouds.  
"I'm sorry...about what i said yesterday. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. When I said that commoners never think for themselves, I was mostly just wondering why you and Haruhi are the only people like that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was worried and I resorted to yelling, and I'm sorry for putting you through that."

What the hell is going on?! I laughed. It must be a joke, although, I didn't find it very funny. Kaoru gave me a strange look.  
"Why would you be worried about me? _Me_, of all people? The only reason you guys keep me around is because you didn't want me to spill Haruhi's secret and because I help with business. I understand your bond with Haruhi, but I'm just the girl on the sidelines, so you can cut the crap."  
"That's not it at all!"  
"Yes, it is! You all have a tight bond with each other! Mori and Honey. You and Hikaru. Haruhi and Tamaki. You guys have had a decent bond with Haruhi as well. Even Kyoya seems to like being around everyone except me!"

"You've got it wrong!" he yelled as he sat up. I sat up too, making my head spin slightly. "The boss is just an idiot! Mori and Honey have been friends since they were little kids and so have me and Hikaru, so it's hard for me and my brother to open up to people. You need to understand that we all care about you! That-that I care about you..." he said, staring at the ground as his voice trailed off. He brought his eyes back up to meet mine. "The main reason that we have kept you around so long is that the host club wouldn't be the same without you. I'd be duller and out of place if you left, so please understand that we just want you to take care of yourself and stop worrying so much about others. How are you going to make happy if you aren't happy yourself? "

I sighed before standing up and saying, "Ok, I understand. But I still have to go to school again tomorrow." Kaoru stood up and laughed, shaking his head slightly at my stubbornness. "Hey, Kaoru," I said as we started walking out of the park, "Thanks. You didn't have to say all that stuff. I could tell how uncomfortable it was."  
"It's fine, although I should probably text the others soon and tell them that I found you." I smacked my face. Of course Tamaki would send everyone running around town on a wild goose chase... I wonder how the twin found me.

Kaoru stopped. "Minako, there's one last thing." I stopped and turned, looking at him curiously. Wait, was that a blush, as in a real blush that you get when your nervous and not just make up?!  
"It's just that... you see I... well... ah, screw it" he leaned in and our lips met. _Is he kissing me?! HOLY CRAP! _I thought as I tried to contain my excitement. He pulled away, a definite blush now on his face. "Sorry." he said, looking a bit sad._ He must think I don't feel the same!_ I smiled at the sad and now confused looking twin.  
"Moron." I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. He returned it as his arms made their way around my waist.

We pulled away, our faces inches a part, each a delicate shade of red. "We should go find the others." he whispered. I nodded as our arms dropped to our sides. Kaoru held his hand out and said, "Princess."  
"Why thank you." I replied and took his hand. We walked a few blocks before finding Haruhi and Tamaki, who ran straight at me yelling my name like an idiot. He pulled me into a massive bear hug ranting on about how his little niece shouldn't have run off like that and that I had worried him. Kaoru just stood off to the side and laughed until my face started getting red from lack of oxygen.  
"Boss, your going to kill the girl if you don't let go of her." he said coming to my rescue.

We found everyone after a bit and I apologized for worrying everyone. Mori came up and ruffled my hair before saying one word. Pup. I guess that's my new nickname. I smiled up at the tall figure, who returned a small smile of his own. Honey hugged me and started crying his eyes out and Tamaki joined in just so he could hug me again. The two blondes were a bit much and I ended up falling backwards and landed on my butt.  
"Hehe, guess I've had more excitement than I can handle today." I said a bit embarrassed as the two boys let go and looked at me with concern along with the rest of the group.

Remembering that I was still sick, Tamaki and Honey helped me up and the group of boys and Haruhi all walked me home. It's nice to know that they really are my friends and weren't just keeping me around for business. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Kaoru stopped right in front of me, making me bump into his back.  
"Yup, just as I expected. Hop on."  
"What?" I asked, although I had a feeling I already knew what he meant.  
"Hop on. I'll carry you for a bit"

I sighed and jumped, wrapping my arms around his neck, "Ok, but only for a little bit".  
"Loosen up a bit would ya? I'm not going to drop you or anything. You're really light, so just relax. You are still sick after all." I sighed and did as I was told. I set my head on Kaoru's back, his heart beat a steady rhythm. I unconsciously started humming my favorite song in time to his heart and closed my eyes. I fell asleep like that, my arms around Kaoru as he carried me, a song lulling me to sleep, his heart as my guide.

* * *

I got mad at Kaoru for letting me sleep the whole way home. He actually carried me inside my house and put me on the bed! I remember specifically saying "only a little bit." He defended himself by saying that I looked cute when I was sleeping and he didn't want to wake me, bringing a blush to my face and making the girls squeal. That was a while ago. Now it was Halloween, and boy was I excited! Me, Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru, and the class representative were all in a group for a Halloween event. Renge randomly showed up in the middle of class and suggested we have a "Halloween test-of-courage tournament".

So now I was waiting on the curb in front of my house for the twins to pick me up. These past few months have been a bit weird. I don't even know if Kaoru still likes me or not. After that day, we went on as if nothing had happened. No dates, no hand holding, no nothin. The limo pulled up, snapping me out of my trance and I jumped in.  
"This is going to be so much fun!" I said excitedly. The twins nodded in agreement, mischievous grins forming on their faces.  
"You guys are going to torture the class rep aren't you." Their grins only widened.

We haven't been at the host club the past week because of the preparations. Tamaki's reaction was priceless! He flipped out so much! I was laughing until he turned on me and started flipping out. I looked over at Kaoru for help and found him deep in thought. I remember wondering if he was ok, but then Tamaki let go of me and the twins resumed their scheme to screw with their boss's mind.

We pulled up and went inside just as it started getting dark outside. Pumpkins eerily lit up the dark halls, boobie traps on every floor. We found the class rep and Haruhi and set off. The twins started telling a scary ghost story, scaring the crap out of the class rep. I kept my hand over my mouth, desperately trying not to laugh. Haruhi tried cheering him up, but failed miserably. I just stood there with the twins as he ran around in circles.

I listened as the twins got on his case and we all came to realize that the class rep was doing this so his crush could have fun. I held in my laughter once again as the twins had their turn to freak out because they couldn't mess with him anymore. A shadow passed over the window and I felt a cold feeling seep into my very soul. Then a noise was heard and we all looked at the top of the stairs to find a skull dropping down. We did the natural thing to do. We screamed. Hikaru kicked it and sent it flying up the stairs. A creepy figure appeared at the top and we once again screamed and ran for it.

"Class rep slow down! We can't keep up!" Kaoru shouted right before something kicked us and we were trapped in a dark closet. Me and Kaoru slammed on the door, but we were trapped. I sighed and sat down against the door. Class rep and Kaoru started talking while I zoned out. I snapped back when I heard him say, "Maybe it's just better to keep things the way they are and not change anything." That must be why nothing has happened. I sighed and looked at the twin as he continued talking. He looked at me and realized that he might of hurt my feelings, which he kinda did.  
"Minako, I didn't mean-" a crash was heard and Kaoru's name came from the other side.

Hikaru burst in and the twins embraced.  
"Uh, where's Fujioka?" Hikaru froze and placed his hand on the back of his head. I smacked my face, realizing that he completely left her behind. Once Haruhi showed up, we ran to the meeting place and found that no one from our class had been the creepy guy who scared us. I looked up and a massive shadow appeared and I screamed along with everyone else. A camera flashed and I stopped screaming, the shadow now seeming extremely familiar. My terror was quickly replaced by anger. I ran out of the room and found Nekozawa making a shadow of his cat puppet, an idiotic laugh coming from the shrouded figure. I ran straight up to him and started beating the crap out of him. Another flash went off as I yelled at him. That bastard got what was coming to him.

...

We looked at the board and found a picture of all of us screaming, the whole class labeled as cowards. Right below was a picture of Nekozawa, and below that, a picture of me beating the crap out of him. The photo was titled "the shadow killer". I sighed and started walking with my classmates. Kaoru pushed Haruhi and Hikaru forward, lost in thought. He looked over at me and got a strange look in his eyes. "Minako, about what I said last night..."  
"It's fine, if that's what you want, then I guess I will just have to wait a bit longer for my prince." I said smiling up at the twin. I watched as he returned the smile.

"You really are something Minako." Kaoru said as he lifted me up on his back. He ran past Hikaru and yelled, "Race ya to the music room!" Me and Haruhi laughed as the twins raced with each of us on their back. "We win!" I yelled as we tore into the room. I jumped off his back and took his hands and started jumping around like a little kid. That smile. I love his smile. I love him. All I have to do now is wait until I can call him mine.

* * *

_Not done yet! Next chapter will be out soon!_


	7. sleepover

_Sorry it's been a while since I updated. Please don't be mad at me :S Anyways, enjoy the new chapter! please don't get mad at me for adding a twin in this. I thought it would make a good twist in the story. _

* * *

BAM! BAM! BAM!  
"Alright! ALRIGHT! I'm coming! Hold on!" I yelled, slightly irritated at the mystery person that decided to disturb my sleep on a Saturday. I opened the door and found not just one person, but two people with the same face. Before I could say a word they walked right passed me and sat on the couch. I sighed and closed the door behind Hikaru and Kaoru before heading upstairs to change out of my pj's and fix the rats nest that had formed on my head.

I put on a pair of dark blue sweatpants, a sunset-orange t-shirt, and a pair of plain white socks. I put a white flower clip in my hair and ran back downstairs.  
"So," I said, startling the identical brothers, "did you seriously come all the way here just to watch shows on my TV, or was their actually a purpose to this little visit?" Hikaru pressed a button on the small remote and the screen went black as he and his brother stood up and spun around to face me.  
"We got bored so we decided-"  
" to come play with you for the day."

I clenched my fists and hissed out, "So I have been degraded to your play thing now?". They gave me their all-to-familiar grin before walking over to me.  
"If that's what you really want-"  
"then I guess there's nothing we can do about it." I was about to burst when their stomachs growled, making them flinch and ruining the act. I started laughing and walked into the kitchen.  
"Ok, what do you guys want to eat?"

Both brothers started saying some fancy names that seemed to be in a different language. I put out my hands and cut them off.  
"What do you want to eat that is actually possible to understand and make?" they blinked and realized that I'm not a world famous cook and asked for something a bit more simple... on their terms. I busted out the hash browns, pancake mix, muffin mix, eggs, bacon, orange juice, and fruit. I turned on my radio and got to work as the twins chatted away.

I unconsciously started humming as my favorite song came on and tapped my feet in time with the music. It wasn't long before I was singing along and dancing around the kitchen as I made breakfast. I put plates, forks, and glasses in front of Hikaru and Kaoru, still dancing and singing. I put the food on their plates, finishing the song by pouring the OJ in their glasses. I noticed the song was over and found the pair staring at me. I felt my face go red and quickly spun around to set up my own plate of food.

"You should do that more often." The words surprised me. I was expecting to get teased about my dancing and my strange voice. I took my plate and sat at the table with them.  
"What do you mean?" I asked, finally looking up to find both brothers smiling at me.  
"We mean that you should dance and sing more." Hikaru stated as if it was obvious. His counterpart nodded.  
"It was amazing. You're really good at dancing and have a great voice. You should perform during host hours." Kaoru mused.

I smiled and felt something wet go down my face. I lifted my hand to my face and realized that I was crying, startling the boys.  
"It's fine. I'm fine. The only one who has ever seen me do that is my mother, and she always said that I was terrible at both. I've always loved music, but I always thought I was really bad when it came to stuff like this, so I always tried to keep anyone from seeing..."  
"Why would your mom say something like that?!"  
"She blames me for my dad's death, so it makes since that she would only focus on my bad traits." I replied, looking down at my now empty plate.

I looked up and found two more empty plates waiting for me. I jumped up, ready to take them, when both twins stood up and walked towards the sink, dishes in hand and determination written all over their faces. I watched in amusement as they turned on the sink and got stuck. I laughed harder at the confused look on their faces and walked over.  
"You two can be so helpless sometimes!" I set to work on the dishes, Hikaru and Kaoru hovering over me, watching in amazement as I opened up the now full dishwasher and placed the necessary powders and liquids in before closing the door and hitting the button to start the machine.

"Tada!" I said as I threw my hands up and turned around to face the astonished pair. I laughed so hard I accidentally snorted, making Hikaru and Kaoru start their own laughing fits. We laughed and laughed, having a good time. We all stopped short when a knock was heard.  
"Please tell me you didn't invite everyone else. It's going to be a pain to cook any more food then I already have." They just shrugged, looking just as confused as I felt. I walked up to the door and opened it, making my heart stop.  
"Kei. What are you doing here?"  
"Long time no see little sis".

* * *

**Kaoru's point of view **

Little sis?! If he's her older brother, than why does he look so young, and why is he here?!" Minako said that after her dad died, her brother left, so why did he suddenly decide to come back now?  
"You ok Mini?" Kei asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. Minako stood their frozen in the doorway, fists clenched and body shaking. Out of nowhere she started punching her brother in the arm.  
"You big idiot! You're supposed to tell people when you're going to visit! Especially after you've been gone so long! You're worse than Hikaru and Kaoru!" Kei laughed and pulled her into a headlock, ruffling her short hair.  
"Glad to see you haven't changed!"

He straightened up and let go of his sister when he realized me and Hikaru were there.  
"Kei, these are my friends from school. This is Hikaru, and this is Kaoru. We're in the same class and are in a club together." He nodded before grinning at us.  
"It's nice to see that Mini has such good friends looking after her. What club are you guys in?"  
"The Host Club." we both answered automatically, immediately regretting it when we saw Minako's look of horror and her brother's questioning look.

Hikaru and I kept up our act while Minako explained the situation to her brother. He didn't seem very thrilled about it at first, but as she continued, he started smiling and ended up laughing.  
"I can't believe the whole school thinks that your a boy! That's hilarious!" Kei sighed and patted her head, "As long as your happy and ok with the situation, then I'm cool with it. I'll have to come check it out on Monday."  
"Monday?" she asked.  
"Yeah, my first day at your school. It sounds like a nice place."

"WHAT?! You're coming to our school?! Does that mean you're here to stay?!" Minako asked as she jumped up. When he nodded yes she pulled him into a bear hug.  
"Kei, are you going to be in our class?" He gave her our teacher's name and she hugged him again. Minako noticed our confused looks and blushed slightly.  
"Kei is going to be in our class because he's my twin. He's only older than me by a day, so I call him big brother. I keep forgetting that it confuses people."

"I guess that means the boss is going to do the whole 'family-is-reunited-once-again-how-beautiful! thing when he meets you." Hikaru said, a slight grin on his face. Minako's smile was so wide it looked as if she would burst with happiness. Kei seemed to notice as well and gave me a wink. _Crud, is it that obvious?! _He laughed as my eyes widened at the thought. We talked, laughed, and messed around for the rest of the day. Before we knew it, it was dark outside and Minako looked as if she would pass out any minute.

"Kei, you can have my room. Hikaru, Kaoru, you two can have the spare bedroom. I'll sleep on the couch." Before we could say a word she threw a pillows at us, including Kei "No I do not want my room or the spare room, yes I knew you were already planning on asking me if you could spend the night, and no I will NOT sleep in the bed with any of you. You guys can be unbelievably easy to read sometimes." All three of us just stared at her as she stood up and left the room.

Kei chuckled at his sister before turning to us.  
"I'm really glad she has you two as her friends. She definitely has opened up more. Ever since the accident with dad, mom was always yelling at Mini for the littlest of things. I left, not wanting to be a part of that anymore, but she refused to leave. Even after all of the terrible things our mom had done, Mini still stood up for her. She said 'She's our mom! It'll be over soon, I promise! She's just sad about dad!' I didn't believe her and left, hoping that she was right."

"Quit making them sad and get to bed." Minako ordered from behind, making all three of us jump up. She just shook her head and showed us to our room.  
" 'night guys!" Minako said as she left the room, one hand raised. I was about to climb in bed when I got an idea.  
"I'll be right back Hikaru, I'm going to go get some water." I walked out of the small room and went downstairs. I took a deep breath before walking into the living room.

"Hey Minako, I was wondering if you-" I stopped mid-sentence as I looked at the figure sleeping on the couch, which had now become a strange looking bed. She had a light blue tank top and black pants with red heart on them. _She's so cute!_ I thought as I felt my face get red. I made to go to the kitchen to get water when I heard my name. I looked around and realized that it had come from Minako. I smiled as walked over to her, knelt down, and took her hand. I felt pressure and looked at the sleeping girl's face, and then back to her now tightened grip on my hand.

After a while her grip loosened and I made to get up, but she pulled me down and mumbled, "don't leave", her eyes still shut. I smirked.  
"What happened to not sleeping on the same bed?"  
"Shut up." I rolled my eyes and laid down next to her. I was asleep in an instant.

...

I woke up with a start and found that there was a lady yelling.  
"What the hell is this?!" she yelled.  
"Mom?! You weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow!"  
"I came back early, but instead of coming back to deal with my sorry excuse of a daughter, it seems that I have to deal with THIS!" We are so screwed.

* * *

**Minako's point of view **

I could not believe this was happening. It is so like my mom to come in and squash out any happiness I might have. Kei came down the stairs with Hikaru right behind him, making mom flip out even more. I did what I usually did when this happened and said nothing while she got it out of her system. Kei took the liberty of explaining what happened, or at least attempted to, but she didn't seem to care what he said. I had my friends and my brother stay the night without asking her and she considered that as a bad thing, so she took that as an excuse to yell at me.

I looked at Kaoru and found a mix between sadness, anger, and confusion in eyes. It didn't take long to figure out what was going on in his mind. He was sad that I had to go through this, angry that my mom was yelling at me without mercy, and confused as to why I didn't say anything. I sighed before looking my mother dead in the eyes and stood up. They did not need to go through this.  
"Would you SHUT UP?!" She stopped yelling and looked at me in surprise, then anger.  
"How dare you-"  
"How dare I what?! Stand up for myself?! Stand up for my brother and friends?!"

"Ever since dad died you have blamed me for everything! I put up with it these past few years, but I have to draw the line when you drag the ones that I love into this! Do you honest to god think that I am a weak little girl that won't stand up for what she believes in when it comes to your craziness?! What the hell is wrong with you?! You should be happy that Kei is back! You should be happy that I actually have friends! You should be happy that I fell in love god dammit! Now if you don't mind, I am going to go change into some clothes. While I'm gone, I want you to actually be nice for once in the pitiful being that you call a life or I swear to god I will personally drag you into the depths of hell where you will rot in excruciating pain for the rest of eternity!"

I stormed upstairs and changed with lightning speed before racing back downstairs. The twins had slept in their clothes from yesterday and Kei had changed before coming down, so I grabbed a grinning Hikaru and blushing Kaoru as I marched out the door, Kei close behind. After a while, I let the boys lead the way to their house, all of us walking in silence.  
"hey Minako," I looked up, my eyes meeting two pairs of amber orbs and a pair that reflected mine, "what you did back there, that was pretty brave of you. It must have been hard to do that, but, to be perfectly honest, I'm glad you yelled at her."

"Wh-what?" I asked shakily.  
"Yeah. She totally deserved that. Your mom shouldn't have gone off at you like that." Kaoru stated, agreeing with his twin.  
"You finally put our psychotic mom in her place! I'm so proud of you Mini! God, if I had known she had gotten crazier since I left, I would have come back sooner." I smiled and wiped away the tear that had escaped me. I ended up in the middle of a group hug. I'm glad I have these idiots in my life. I thought about how I had 5 more friends waiting to see me when we went to school and grinned at the warm feeling that had grown inside.


	8. sleepover part 2

I slowly opened my eyes and found a large canopy overhead. I sat up, slamming the off button on the alarm I had set on the way, and looked around. Then I remembered that I was in the Hitachiin's 'house'. Yesterday I had packed extra clothes in case I slept over, so I had my school uniform already with me and didn't need to borrow one. I sighed and got out of the massive bed, heading towards the bathroom to do my daily routine to get ready for school, leaving a (somehow) peacefully sleeping Kaoru. I turned on the water in the huge walk in shower and melted into it's warmth. As I cleaned myself up, I thought about yesterday and smiled. _Those guys are a bunch of idiots._

* * *

**Flashback**

"Why do you guys have to be so god damned rich?! You can't even call this a house! It's a frigging MANSION!" The twins just laughed at me as we headed towards a wide space with a large TV. Shelves lined the walls, each with something different, but filled to the top. One held Xbox games, one held play station games, game boy, DS, Wii, movies, CDs, tapes... one even had records!  
"Wow." Kei said, looking as surprised as I felt, "I'm guessing that I get to beat you guys in one of these games now." he smirked, getting evil grins from the brothers, an idea obviously in their heads.

"Is that a challenge?" they asked in unison.  
"I guess it is" Kei said returning the grin. I sighed and settled down in a nearby chair. I knew it was only a matter of time before the "game" was proposed, and I did NOT intend to be a part of it.  
"Let's make it a game." they once again said in unison. I smacked myself in the face, cursing myself for being right.

"Whoever wins the most games out of 10-" Hikaru started.  
"gets to do whatever they want..."  
"Ok, deal! Just to warn you, I'm going to win!" Kei rushed, not letting Kaoru finish.  
"You know, it's not very smart to accept a bet without knowing everything about the stakes." Hikaru said, an amused look on his face.  
"Oh yeah, and why is that?" my idiot brother asked.  
"Because whoever win gets to do whatever they want _with Minako for the rest of the day."_

"WHAT?!" We both yelled and jumped up at the same time.  
"I absolutely refuse to go along with this!" I shouted.  
"It's to late for that, Kei here already agreed to it, so unless he wins, you have to do whatever we want." Hikaru said evilly, making my very blood boil.

I let out a deep sigh when an idea came to me. "Fine, I'll go along with this, but I get to play too. There is no way I'm just going to sit back and trust my brother's video game skills when my very life is on the line." They both stared at me in shock before shrugging.  
"Sounds fair enough-"  
"so what game should we play?" I went over to the shelves and found a play station game that me and my brother were really good at... All-Star Battle Royale.

They put in the game and the match started. Me and Kei had played this so much before he left, and I could tell he had increased in skill while he was gone. _We're definitely going to win this. _Both of us teamed up as soon as the game started and had beaten them in 10 minutes flat. They looked at us with a mixture of utter horror and betrayal.  
"What do you two think you are doing?!" Hikaru asked angrily  
"What are you talking about? You said that whoever won the most games could do whatever they wanted with me. You didn't say anything about being in teams." I told him casually, a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.

The twins grinned so evilly it sent chills down my back. We started playing the next round, which ended in 5 minutes, half the time of our last game, me and my brother the losers. We went through the next 8 games and ended the contest 1-9. I dropped the remote, not only scared for my well being, but also at the godly-speed the twins had when it came to video games. I whimpered and looked over at the winners, a dark aura surrounding them.  
"Ok princess, it's time for you to get changed."

...

I should just jump out the window. I had already sang and danced for them so I could "entertain them" and had served them as a host, but this, this was just plain idiots were making me wear about 20 different dresses. I had to put them on and walk down the stage that they had specifically for modeling. I sighed and walked out, my first of many horrors now revealed. All three boys just stared at me as I walked down the aisle, gave them a death glare, and walked back. _I swear to god I am going to... _my thoughts were cut off when I saw the next dress and screamed. "Why is it so poufy?! mehehe."

I finally finished the stupid "fashion show" and was allowed to go change back into my normal clothes. I finished putting on my pajama bottoms and made to grab my tank-top when the door opened behind me.  
"Hey Minako, I brought you..." I stiffened my back, recognizing Kaoru's voice, and had a small freak out inside my head. I sighed and quickly put on my top before turning around to face Kaoru, who had such a deep blush he could have been mistaken as a tomato. I went over and took the washcloth from him to wipe the make up off my face before poking his nose.  
"You're lucky I'm so flat chested." I teased. Then I laughed at his shocked face. "Oh common, do you really think I care about something like this? Almost the whole school thinks I'm a dude! Calm down!"

His face went back to it's usual color and he grinned. I smiled warmly back at him and we walked out of the changing room and went back to the video room. That smile disappeared as soon as I saw all the lights turned off with a horror movie on the screen. CRAP! I can't handle scary movies, even when it's daytime, let alone at night when it's pitch black! Kei gave me an "I'm sorry" look before we sat down. I grabbed a nearby pillow and hugged it as close to me as possible. The movie started with Kei in the chair I had sat in earlier, Kaoru on my left, and Hikaru on his left.

I couldn't help but scream when a massive spider lunged at the screen. Another spider showed up and cut a little girls head off. That's when I had it. I grabbed onto Kaoru's arm and buried my face into his shoulder. Every time I heard a scream I flinched, which happened often. At some point, Kaoru's arms ended up around me, creating a boundary of warmth around me. I calmed down and let go of his shirt and leaned into him, still flinching every now and then. The movie finally ended and the lights flicked on, a signal that it was safe to open my eyes... at least I thought it was.

I opened my eyes and found a massive spider dangling right in front of my face. I screamed and fell off the couch hitting the glass coffee table on the way down, cutting my arm.  
"Whoa, are you ok? It's just rubber... Minako, your arm!" Hikaru said, making both our brothers flip out.  
"Hikaru, you moron! I'm scared of spiders!" I yelled.  
"You weren't scared of them when we were at the beach." he yelled back, a confused and angry look on his face.  
"Those were insects! Spiders are arachnids!" I screamed, waving my arms frantically.

"ow" I stopped spazing out and stood up, cradling. "Anyone have a band aid? Crap, I hope I'm not staining your carpet."  
"Your kidding me right? _That's_ what you're worried about? The _carpet?!_" I shrugged at the three boys, who all looked pretty worried. I looked down again and grimaced, but before I could say another word, a maid came in and took me to the infirmary. Why they have an infirmary in their house I will never know. She cleaned the wound and stitched it up before taking me to my room.

I set the alarm clock and got ready for bed. Before I could even touch the covers, tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum, and tweedle-dummer burst into my room, all of them in their pajamas (aka. their boxers :S).  
"Minako! Are you- AAH!" I started throwing pillows at the moron trio, starting a massive pillow fight. I won and asked them what my prize was. Kei grinned and grabbed Hikaru's arm, dragging him out of the room with him.  
"Since you like having this particular twin so much, why don't you go ahead and sleep with him again. Bye bye! Have fun now!" and with that he slammed the door.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to..."  
"I don't mind."  
"O-ok." I climbed into the massive bed, Kaoru right behind me. I turned off the light, an awkward silence following it.  
"Hey Minako."  
"Yeah?"  
"About this morning, when you were standing up to your mom, what you said meant a lot to me and I wanted to thank you." I thought about it and remembered how I had yelled _you should be happy I fell in love god dammit! _

I felt my face get red. "It's fine, I was just speaking (yelling) the truth, something she needed to hear." Another silence followed that, but it was a comfortable one this time.  
"Minako, all we did last night was hold hands. Do you think I can hold you..." I turned and snuggled into him.  
"As long as I live, the answer to that question will _always_ be yes." I felt his arms wrap around me along with that safe boundary. Sleep was peaceful once again.

* * *

**End of flashback **

I stopped the water and dried off. I changed into my uniform and went back to my room. A maid was outside, getting ready to walk in, but I stopped her and asked if she was going to wake Kaoru up. When she nodded yes, I told her I would take over. She smiled and left, so I walked in and went right over to the bed. I leaned down over the sleeping boy and kissed him. I felt him jolt awake, but it didn't take long for him to kiss me back. I pulled away and said in a teasing tone, "come on sleeping beauty, the princess shouldn't have to wake the prince up."  
"That was definitely one hell of a way to wake someone up. I can see why princesses do that, it's nice." I laughed and left the room.

I took the stairs 2 at a time and found Kei already eating breakfast, his new uniform on.  
"Wow, I have to admit, you make a pretty good brother little sis."  
"Shut up." I smacked him in the back of his head playfully. About 20 minutes later, the twins came down at the same time.  
"No time to eat, take it and go." I said tossing them each a piece of toast.

I skipped outside, the boys trailing behind me.  
"You guys walk slow. You should really- KYA!" I fell backwards and landed on my butt, making all four of us break into laughter. I jumped up and started running, making the moron trio run to catch up. As the school came into view, I saw Haruhi. I yelled out her name and ran up to her.  
"Oh, hey Minako. Hi Hikaru, hi Kaoru. Who's this?"  
"This is my brother Kei. He popped up out of nowhere and said that he was going to be in our class."

"It's nice to meet you Kei. I'm guessing that this means you and Minako are twins."  
"Yup. It's nice to meet another one of Mini's friends. Don't worry, she explained the situation with your club. I think it's pretty cool that you two are doing that." Haruhi smiled up at him.  
"Yeah, it's strange, but it's fun. Anyways, welcome to Ouran High school."

* * *

_Hiya guys! So that was chapter 8. I would like to thank **sweetcooper, SUGARCOMACUPCAKE, farrafelpies, CathieeTarriea**, and that random** guest** for reviewing on all of my previous chapters! It really helped to know your opinions and hope that you will continue enjoying the story. Write ya later! XP_


	9. Kei's first day

_I'm back guys! Sorry it took so long for me to get this thing up and going, I've been pretty busy this past week. Just to remind you, I am basing this off of the show, not the manga. Anyways, without further ado, CHAPTER 9 IS POSTED! _

* * *

I opened my eyes groggily, immediately feeling a great throbbing in my head. I sat up, a groan escaping me. _What happened? Oh yeah... I was hit by a table, _I thought, a grimace forming on my face as I recalled the past half hour.

**Flashback**...

I took a deep breath before saying, "Just to warn you, Tamaki-Sempai can be a bit... strange. So don't be to surprised if he starts called you his nephew". Kei nodded and I opened the doors, Haruhi, Hikaru, Kaoru, and my brother in tow. As soon as I opened the door, I was tackled by none other than the prince himself.  
"MinakoooOOO! Why didn't you tell your uncle that your brother was coming! MOMMA!" Kyoya simply pushed his glasses up, a slightly irritated look on his face at the horrendous nickname.  
"Kei Hikari, twin brother of Minako Hikari, first-year enrolled in Ouran as of today."

I watched in amusement as Tamaki's face went up a few notches on the horror-mometer.  
"I thought you said your brother was older than you! Why are you keeping secrets from me! Haruhi, were you in on this too?! Why won't my family trust meeeeee?!"  
"Tamaki-Sempai, I said he was older than me because he technically is by a few hours. Get ahold of yourself for Pete's sake! I didn't even know he was coming until two days ago. Trust me when I say that I wouldn't keep something from you that you would need to know! Now PLEASE stop clinging to Kyoya! He looks ready to murder anyone of us in this room, so unless you want a massive thunder cloud to appear out of nowhere to kill us all, I suggest get let go RIGHT NOW!"

The blonde quickly did as I asked as a dark aura started to fill the room. Kyoya sighed and pushed up his glasses once again, the temperature in the room warming back up. Girls started to come in the room, making me believe that thing would finally calm down. God was I wrong. Tamaki launched himself at Kei, making my surprised brother stumbled back... right into Honey. The cake that the smaller blonde was eating was knocked out of his hands, sending it right to the floor. All the while Tamaki was yelling how nice it was to finally meet his nephew (_So called that one)_ while the twins snuck up behind Haruhi, the words "up to no good" written all over their faces, all the while a dark aura started forming once again, except this time, it was around Honey.

"EVERYBODY RUN FOR IT!" I yelled as the third-year stood up. I heard a shout from Haruhi and all hell broke loose. girls were running around screaming, Honey was on a rampage, Mori, was nowhere to be seen, Kyoya was chasing Tamaki, and the twins were just doing as much as possible to help create more chaos. Me, Haruhi, and Kei, were the only ones sane enough to try and get things to calm down. I heard an ear splitting scream come from Honey and looked up just as a massive table came flying at me. I fell on my back and was out in an instant.

**End of Flashback... **

Everything seemed to back in business. I looked around and found Honey eating a new piece of cake, Mori standing right behind him. _I guess Mori left so he could get Honey a new piece of cake. Quick thinking Sempai! _That's when I realized that I was still on the ground. No one even noticed that I had been out. Not even my own brother! I stood up grouchily and started off at them.  
"Oh no, I'm fine guys! I mean, it was just a flying table thrown by the great Mitsukuni Haninozuka straight at my face, making me pass out for-" I paused and looked at the clock, "2 HOURS?! Are you FRIGGING KIDDING ME?! You guys just left me on the floor for 2 WHOLE HOURS and didn't even NOTICE?!"

At first there was shock, but it was soon replaced by guilt. Even Mori had a sad look in his eyes, although that was the only part of him that showed any emotion. I made to walk towards my table, were my brother and the girls I was supposed to be hosting were sitting very quietly, looking down at their hands. I was about halfway there when my vision got blurry and I almost passed out again. before I could hit the ground, a pair of strong arms were around me, helping me to my feet.  
"Sorry" was all the deep voice of Mori said, before Honey ran up to me and hugged my limp form.

"Mina-Chaaaaan! I'm *sniff* So SORRY!" he cried into my chest. I sighed. How could I ever be mad at _Honey_?  
"It's ok Honey-Sempai, I'm just a bit tired and grumpy. I had a strange weekend and didn't want to end up dealing with something like this. It's not your fault Tamaki-Sempai is a complete idiot who doesn't understand boundaries." The small blonde looked up at me and sniffed again, hope filling every shade in his eyes. I heard some "awe's" and "So cutes'!" from the girls as I hugged him tighter and continued.  
"Besides, I would be pretty mad if my cake got knocked over. I would probably hit myself with the table if it were me..." I finished with a laugh.

The smile that I got in return for that mini-speech was so heart warming it could put the sun itself to shame.  
"Thank you Mina-Chan, you're the best! Hey I know! Why don't we move our tables closer so we can all have some cake!" Mori and Kei moved the tables and we enjoyed said cake. I learned that in the time I was passed out on the floor, Kei became my partner in hosting. We are now the fun-type duo (cue dramatic hand gesture)! I unintentionally looked over at the twins and found Kaoru staring right back at me. He looked so sad and guilty, so I stood up and walked over to their table.

Kaoru's eyes widened as I got closer.  
"Hiya ladies! How's your day been so far? I hope that little incident hasn't ruined your day. If these two do anything you don't like, then just call me." I said, winking at the end. before I turned to Hikaru and Kaoru, I saw a faint blush on the girls' faces and smirked slightly before continuing.  
"I understood why Honey-Sempai was upset, but that didn't mean that you needed to add to that," I sighed dramatically, "I just don't know what we're going to do with you two. I guess I'll have to punish you now."

I placed a finger on my chin, pretending to be deep in thought. I grinned and snapped my fingers, making the girls come on the edge of their seats and bringing the girls from my table over to watch.  
"I got it!" Then I took some whipped cream off of their cakes, placed a bit on each of their faces, and in turn licked it off, making the girls go wild and the brothers turn a bright shade of red for having their own trick used on them. Before I lifted my head, I whispered "You're forgiven, so stop looking as if you just watched a puppy get ran over by a car and get back to being your dorky yet mischievous self" in Kaoru's ear. The relieved smile and intensified blush on his face was more than enough to make me happy.

* * *

Never in my life had I ever seen Hikaru without Kaoru, so when he walked in the classroom without his counterpart, I became worried. As soon as we got out of class, I walked straight up to him and asked where his brother was. He looked down, a sad look in his eyes.  
"Kaoru got sick last night and has been in bed ever since." I suppressed a gasp and swallowed before trying to ask my next question.  
"Do you- Is it ok if I could maybe- That is, would it be all right if I...?"  
"As soon as school ends I'm heading home. You can come with me if you want."  
"Thank you!"

The rest of the school day felt so slow, I could barely stand it. I almost screamed in the middle of my last class. The bell finally rang and I sprang up and sprinted out the door to the front of the school to wait for Hikaru. He showed up right when his limo did. We climbed in and rode in silence to his house *cough* MANSION! Both of us were worried about Kaoru, so I tried to cheer his counterpart up.  
"Hey, I'm sure he'll be fine."  
"He's never been this sick before." he said glumly as he stared out the window.  
"I guess we'll just have to make sure he gets better than won't we." I replied, trying my best to smile.

He looked at me a bit surprised, but then his look softened into a slight smile.  
"You're really important to him you know." he said as he leaned his head on his arm, which was propped up against the window. This caught me off guard, but he continued on.  
"I'm glad we became friends Minako. If it hadn't been for you and Haruhi, we'd probably still be shut out from the world. Kaoru has finally found his special someone, and I'm really happy that it's you. He needs someone who can make him laugh and can depend on other than me. I just wanted you to know how grateful I am that you're coming to see him."

"Of course I would come! I know you two don't usually have anyone looking out for you except for each other, but now you've got me, so I'm going to do as much as I can to help!" I explained with a determined look on my face. He laughed lightly at my expression as we pulled up. We both got out quickly and went straight to Kaoru's room. Hikaru went in first, having me stay hidden in the hallway so Kaoru wouldn't see.  
"Hey Kaoru, I'm back. How are you feeling?"  
"Better..." his twin replied, but immediately started coughing. I winced at the harshness of the cough.

"I brought you a surprise." Hikaru continued once Kaoru stopped hacking his lungs out.  
"Really? What is it?" There's my cue. I walked through the door and found a surprised yet sickly pale and sweaty Kaoru.  
"Minako. What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes wide.  
"What do you think I'm doing here num-nut?! I'm here to help take care of you. As far as I know, Hikaru can't cook even if his own life depended on it, let alone yours. That also means he is most likely very bad when it comes to taking care of a sick person, so I'm here to help out."

Before he could say another word, I went over to the window and opened the blinds, letting fresh sunshine in before opening the window.  
"There, now we can get you some vitamin D and some air in this stuffy room." I explained as I spun around with a smile.  
"You need to go take a nice, long, warm shower and change into some new clothes," I pointed at Kaoru, "and you need to help him in any way possible." I finished, pointing at Hikaru. "I'm going to start making some chicken noodle soup."

Hikaru helped Kaoru out of bed and took him down the hall while I went downstairs to the kitchen. I looked in one of the massive cabinets and found a can of chicken noodle soup, put it in a bowl, and set it in the microwave. I pushed the start button and left in search of one of the maids. I asked where I could find some new bed sheets and she directed me to a line of cabinets with linens in them. I thanked her and picked out the comfiest sheets I could find. Back in Kaoru's room, the current sheets, messy and sweaty, were removed and were replaced by the ones I picked out. On my way back up the stairs, I heard the shower turn off, so I hurried into the room and found a nice pair loose shorts and a tank top for Kaoru to wear to bed, and Hikaru's summer outfit since it was so warm out.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, I brought some clothes for you guys." I said as I knocked on the door of the bathroom. The door opened slightly and an arm came out, awaiting the clothes I had brought. I did as he wished and was already descending the stairs once again when the door closed. I went to the microwave and pulled out the bowl of now warm soup and placed it in two smaller bowls. Then I went to the fridge and found the drink I was looking for: ginger ale. I poured the soda into two cups and headed back upstairs, both food and drinks on a tray.  
"I've got da food!" I said, a cheesy grin on my face.

I set the food on a nearby table and went over to Kaoru, who looked a lot better than he did earlier, and lifted his back so I could rearrange the pillows. He laid back, staying in an upright position so he could eat.  
"One for you," I placed the tray on Kaoru's lap before taking one of the bowls and a cup, handing it to Hikaru, "and one for you."  
"You didn't have to make me food, I'm not sick." Hikaru said, looking confused.  
"I don't want to take any chances. Besides, it would be mean to make Kaoru food when I know for a fact you haven't eaten all day."

Hikaru gave in and started eating with his brother. He really didn't eat all day due to worry, but I hadn't either. I would just have to suck it up. These two are more important right now.  
"Wow Minako, you're pretty good at this." Kaoru said once he finished his dinner.  
"When I was little, my dad would take care of me whenever I got sick. It was like magic. My sickness would be gone the very next day, as if nothing had happened. He showed me what to do when Kei got sick and I've been a pro ever since."

I took the dishes and hurried back with some medication and cough drops so he wouldn't start coughing in the middle of the night. I measured the purple liquid before giving it to Kaoru.  
"Drink this, it'll help. Then drink some water to help it go down." He did as I instructed and settled in for a good night's sleep. I went over to the now dark window and closed it, shutting the blinds shortly after. I turned on the fan and turned out the lights. Hikaru was already passed out on the bed next to his twin. I sat down on a small chair next to the bed, trying to decide if it would be safe to sleep.

"Minako."  
"Yeah?"  
"Thank you."  
"For what, being a good friend?"  
"Well, there definitely is that, but I wanted to thank you for coming."  
"Funny, that's what tweedle-dum said earlier." Kaoru chuckled at that. I scooted closer and grabbed his hand.  
"You need to get some sleep you moron."  
"Hey, that's my line."  
"Whatever. goodnight Kaoru."  
"Goodnight Minako." I wasn't actually planning on falling asleep, but after a while, I drifted off, my hand in his, my head and arms resting on the bed.

...

I woke up earlier than I should have, but I got up anyways and left the room to go take a shower. I was doing ok at first, I even ended up singing a bit, but then I started getting light headed and cut myself off mid-line. I turned the shower off and put a towel on. I didn't take long for me to be on my knees puking in the toilet. I guess this is what I get for not eating. What little I had in my system left me in that moment. The door opened and Kaoru came in, a worried look on his face.  
"Minako, are you ok?" I puked a bit more, finally on empty, but I didn't get up.

"I'm fine Kaoru, I just should have eaten more than a granola bar yesterday. Once I get some food in my system I'll be good."  
"Doesn't that mean you have to get up and go to the kitchen?" I nodded, but I didn't move. He sighed and walked over.  
"Will you flip out if I help you even though your clothing right now consists of nothing but a towel?" I nodded again and felt an arm around me. The ground was soon far away and we were walking downstairs.  
"You can eat this to keep you steady until breakfast is ready," he handed me a honey bun, "You know, I was trying to find you so we could rejoice with my newfound health, but you just had to ruin it by not being healthy yourself." the twin teased.

"That's 'cause I'm magic!" I said as I stood up, happy that I wasn't feeling so bad anymore. I raced upstairs and quickly got dressed, my energy already returning. I ran to the kitchen, fully dressed twins waiting for me.  
"Hahaha! Take that sickness! I Have conquered you once again!" I yelled, a fist clenched up in the air, defying anyone to say otherwise.  
"Hey Minako, why are you so good at taking care of other people but do a lousy job taking care of yourself?" Hikaru asked, defying me.  
"Others are more important." I simply replied.

After a nice breakfast, we got ready to leave, when I remembered I left my bag in Kaoru's room. I dashed up and grabbed it, turned around, and found myself face to face with Kaoru.  
"I need you to know something."  
"Ok..."  
"I never really told you how I felt, so I kinda just went for it. But now I need to say it, because I have a feeling something bad is going to happen and I want you to know that I'll be there for you no matter what. You need to know that-that I-" he took a deep breath, "you need to know that I love you Minako." I launched myself at him with a massive hug.  
"I love you too!" I felt like this was the happiest moment of my life. How could anything possibly go wrong?

* * *

_It's not over yet! I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible! I didn't have any time to do a spell check, so bear with me on that note. I promise I'll fix it._


	10. together at last

_Just so I don't have to go into detail, the beginning is based off of episode 26. Cue carriage scene! PS, I'm not very good at the kissing parts. I haven't had my first kiss yet, so it's kinda hard to explain something I've never experienced before, so please bear with me on this. Thanks! X)_

* * *

"TAMAKI, YOU MORON!" I yelled as we raced down the path. I felt bad for leaving Kaoru behind, but we had to get there ASAP. If that moron was going to make me wear a dress, he better not go off to France and not even see it! We pulled up next to Tamaki and I took the reins. Haruhi started yelling at Tamaki and held her hand out to him. Then we went over that stupid bump and Haruhi went flying.  
"HARUHI!" I screamed. Then I turned on Tamaki, "Do something you idiot!" Then he jumped.

I yanked on the reins and jumped out of the carriage, racing to the side of the bridge. I watched as time slowed down while Tamaki sped toward Haruhi, her hands outstretched to the waiting blonde. He pulled her into his arms and did the unexpected... he kissed her. It was only brief, but it was enough to start me fangirling with a hint of rage hiding in the corners. That moron _just now_ realized he loves her?! When they are falling off a _bridge_?!  
"Took you long enough!" I shouted to them before they fell into the water, arms wrapped around each other.

I ran towards the end of the bridge and started sliding my way down the slope to the pair of idiots.  
"Are you two ok?!" I asked. They only nodded, deep blushes on both their faces. "oh for Pete's sake, just kiss her already!" I said as I rolled my eyes and pushed the blonde closer to the brunette. They looked at me in shock and I just chuckled, turning around.  
"I'll be waiting in the carriage." I stated calmly and walked away.

* * *

I watched from behind the crowd as Haruhi danced from partner to partner. The secret had finally been revealed that she was a girl, but now it was my turn, and boy am I nervous. I had put a white flower clip in my hair, matching my dress. The dress was sky blue, splitting off near the bottom, revealing white ruffles. The dress stopped right above my chest, the sleeves coming up halfway on my upper arm. I looked over at Kaoru and caught his eye. He smiled and held his hand out to me, beckoning me out into the open. A pathway opened up and I blushed at all the attention. I made it over to Kaoru, who had an amazing smile painted across his face.

"Miss Hikari, would you grant me the honor of having this dance?" I heard many gasps as I nodded. I placed my hand in his and we started gliding across the floor. "You look very beautiful Minako."  
"T-thanks" I stuttered. I caught a glance of Kei and found him smirking at me. I stuck out my tongue over my partner's shoulder and got a wink in return. I rolled my eyes at my idiot brother and returned my focus to Kaoru. I sighed and laid my head against his chest, feeling him stiffen slightly at the action before relaxing again.

"They won't stop staring." I muttered into his shirt, only loud enough for him to hear.  
"They're all just a bit shocked. Not only have they learned that Haruhi is actually a girl, but you are too. Most of the girls are probably pretty bitter about the fact that they were swooning over you two for so long. I also think they might be a bit jealous." he whispered the last sentence, playfulness in his voice. I looked up into his amber orbs, a questioning look on my face.

"They're jealous that I'm dancing with you and not them. Same goes for Haruhi and the boss over there." he explained, nodding his head towards said pair. "I think I'm going to make them a bit more jealous. What do you say, want to help me?"  
"Gladly my dear prince."  
"That's great to hear my princess." he said as he leaned down and kissed me, both of our faces a bright shade of red. I heard many of the girls cry out and a few whistles from the boys, including both of our twins, but I didn't care, so I deepened the kiss.

When we finally broke a part, breathing a bit heavily, there was a massive grin on both of our faces. A more upbeat song came on and I was soon surrounded by people. Some congratulated me, some apologized, and some got mad, but I couldn't keep the grin off my face. I walked over to Kei and earned a pat on the head.  
"You finally did it Mini! I'm so proud of you!" he exclaimed.  
"Shut it! Now that it's official, we have to find you someone!" I retorted. My eyes widened a light pink came across his nose and on his ears. "Don't tell me you already have a girlfriend!"  
"Her name's Dawn. I met her when I was in Australia. We've been together for a little over two years now." Kei laughed as my jaw dropped, surprise written all over my face.

I snapped out of it and looked him dead in the eye. "When do I get to meet her?"  
"She's moving here next week with her mom and dad."  
"And when exactly were you planning on telling me about all of this?!"  
"I just did." he chuckled and walked away. My twin is a complete and total moron.

* * *

Life was good. My mom had started to treat me better since that incident a while back. I met Dawn, and she seemed like a really nice and funny girl. Haruhi and I are still hosts, but now that we are being our actual gender, the costumers consist of both girls_ and_ boys. I host occasionally, but now I am mostly music entertainment. But that's not the best part. The best part is that once club hours are over, Kaoru is taking me to a fair that opened the other day... AS IN A DATE! It's going to be our first date as a couple and I'm really excited. The twins still do their brotherly love routine, but that's who they are, so I honestly don't care in the slightest.

As soon as the last guest was out the door, I raced over to Kaoru. He smiled at me, making my heart skip a beat.  
"Ready to go princess?"  
"Yes sir!" He chuckled and held out his arm, which I gladly took. We walked to the front of the school and found a limo waiting for us. He opened the door for me and I climbed inside. The whole way, we talked about what rides we would go on or what foods we would eat. We weren't even there yet and I was already having a blast!

We pulled up by the fence surrounding the fair and got out. Kaoru walked up to a door and the fence and started fiddling with it.  
"Uh... Kaoru?"  
"My mom made the costumes for one of the shows and let me borrow the key to get in through the staff door and a pass to go right onto the rides so we won't have to wait in any lines."  
"Your mom is awesome! I wish my mom could be that nice..."  
"Hey, let's just have fun today. No worries, got it?" I nodded, earning a smile from my boyfriend. I blushed at the thought, but lucky for me he was to focused on his success at getting the door open to notice.

We walked through a small room filled with beautiful costumes.  
"Oh, I also forgot."  
"What?" I asked nervously, catching the mischievous gleam in his eyes."  
"My mom said we can only use the passes if we dress up in a costume."  
"WHAT?!" too late. He grabbed my hand and dragged me over to a rack of clothes. I picked out a renaissance looking red riding hood outfit and he chose a prince outfit.

Once we picked out our outfits, he dragged me over to the changing room.  
"Wait Kaoru, what are you doing?!"  
"What? It saves time. Besides, I've already seen you without a top. It shouldn't really matter since your my girlfriend now right?" I blushed at my new title and turned away. I took off my shirt and shorts, putting them in my backpack. Then I put on a pair of black leggings, black boots, and the costume top.

"There, I'm do-" I cut myself off as I turned around. Not only was Kaoru staring at me, but he looked extremely handsome.  
"How long have you been standing there in your princely glory watching me?!"  
"Long enough to know you have a blue bra." I sighed and grabbed his hand.  
"Let's just go."

I made a bee-line to the first ride I saw: an extremely fast rollercoaster with a lot of loops. We went up and Kaoru showed the guy our passes and we got front row seats.  
"This is going to be awesome!" I said excitedly. Kaoru just smiled softly at me. As we went up the steep incline, I reached over and took my boyfriends hand before closing my eyes, completely at peace.  
"Thank you." Then we dropped. I did a mix between a laugh and a scream, causing Kaoru to laugh the whole way. The rest of the day was filled with rides, food, games, and moments I will treasure for the rest of my life.

Instead of taking the limo, Kaoru walked me to my house. We walked down the street, hand in hand, until we were in front of my house. I kissed him goodbye, sad that he had to go, and walked into the silent house. Kei was with Dawn, so the house was empty. Just as I put my bag down on the counter and changed into a tank top and sweatpants, the phone rang. Curious on who could be calling, I ran downstairs and picked up the phone.  
"Hello?"  
"_Hi, is this Minako Hikari?"  
_"Yes. Why do you want to know?"  
"_Well, it's about your mother..." _I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. This can't be happening again.  
"Wh-what about my mother."  
"_I am very sorry to tell you that she got in a really bad car accident. A drunk driver came flying through during a red light and hit your mother. She didn't make it."  
_I-I see. Thank you for telling me." I hung up the phone and stood in the kitchen, unable to move.

I slowly walked out the front door and started walking. I didn't know where I was going, I was on auto pilot. It wasn't until I saw Hikaru and Kaoru's house did I start coming back to reality. _Kaoru! _I broke into a run and almost tripped on the steps before slamming my hand against the door. It didn't take long for the door opened and I rushed in. The maid went to get Kaoru, already knowing who I was. I had become friends with most of the staff here. Kaoru came down the stairs, his brother right next to him.  
"Minako? What are you-" He never got to finish. I fell to the ground and started crying my heart out.

"Minako?! What's wrong?!" the twins said in unison as they rushed over to my curled up figure. I felt arms come around my body and found myself being carried bridal style in Kaoru's arms upstairs as I cried into his shirt, a worried Hikaru right beside us. I felt myself get placed on a bed, but Kaoru's arms never left.  
"Minako, can you tell us what happened." Hikaru asked in a surprisingly soft voice.  
"My-my mom!" I sobbed.  
"Crap, what did she do to you this time?!"  
"No, no... guy called...drunk guy...car accident... she-she's gone!" I sobbed even harder.

I felt my barrier tighten and watched through blurry eyes as his brother's face saddened.  
"Minako, where was Kei when this happened?" Kaoru asked once I had calmed down a bit.  
"He-he's with Dawn. He doesn't know. What am I going to tell him?!" I asked as a fresh set of tears overwhelmed me. I felt a new hand start to rub my back.  
"It's ok Minako, we'll help you. You're going to be ok. If you want, you can stay here tonight."  
"Thanks Hikaru, that means a lot to me. I know comforting people isn't exactly your strong suit."

Kaoru let go of me briefly so we could all climb into bed. Hikaru was on my right and Kaoru was on my left, placing me in between my brother and my lover. I took each of their hands in mine and their free hands made their way across my chest, enveloping me in a hug. My tears slowed down and eventually stopped flowing. My eyelids became heavy and I drifted off into a deep sleep, my dreams filled with images of my mom and dad, wishing that they would come back to me, but I knew they were gone forever.

* * *

_I know that was a bit sad, but I couldn't make it completely perfect, at least not yet ;) I hope you liked the Hikaru fluff I added there. I thought he needed to get a part in this, so I made it so that he was like another brother to Minako. Hope you enjoyed it, 'cause I'm thinking the next chapter is the last one XD_ _Any suggestions for said chapter would be greatly appreciated!_


	11. hearts beat as one

I slowly walked down the street, hand in hand with the twins, dreading the moment that was to come. The school came into view and I felt my steps slow until I came to a complete stop at the gates.  
"I know this is going to be hard for you Minako-"  
"but it has to be done. Kei needs to know." I nodded and walked into school. We walked through the halls, receiving a few glares every now and then, but I couldn't care less. I had to tell Kei that mom had died last night.

I let go of the twins so they could walk into homeroom before me. I took a deep breath and walked in, finding my brother right away.  
"Kei, we need to talk...alone." He nodded, a curious look on his face. I pulled him outside the classroom and stared at the floor.  
"What's up Mini? Did Kaoru hurt you?!"  
"No, no, Kaoru's perfect..."  
"Then what's wrong?"

I took yet another deep breath before continuing. "You see, last night, after my date, Kaoru walked me home..."  
"You didn't do it did you?!"  
"WHAT?! NO?! KEI YOU PERVERT!" I screamed hitting him on the head multiple times with a dictionary I pulled out of thin air.  
"Ok. OK! I get it!" I cried out in protest to the constant book smacking.

I lowered my arm and looked back at the ground. "Kei, I got a phone call last night. A man said that mom got in a car accident."  
"Oh, is she ok?" he asked worriedly, a bit of fear in his voice.  
"She didn't make it. She was already dead when the man called. Mom's gone, just like dad." I answered shakily, a single tear finding its way down my cheek.

Kei suddenly pulled me into his arms and we slid down to the floor. We sat like that for a while, silently crying into each other's shoulder. He pulled away and wiped away my remaining tears with his sleeve.  
"Let's go Mini, they're probably wondering where we are. Class started like 15 minutes ago. I nodded and we reentered the room. My eyes immediately went to Kaoru, who was looking right back at me, worry and sadness in his amber orbs. I nodded and smiled warmly, causing him to relax. I took my seat behind him, my hand finding its way to his.

* * *

**Kaoru's point of view**

"Hi Mina-Chan!"  
"Oh, hey Honey-Sempai."  
"Are you ok Mina-Chan? You and Kei-Chan look a little down today. Even Hika-Chan and Kao-Chan seem a little gloomy." A dark aura formed around me, Hikaru, and Kei, death glares all being sent towards the small blonde. Minako quickly stepped in front of us, blocking our view of the oblivious Honey.

"It's fine Honey. We're just having an off day." Kei put a hand on her shoulder and looked back at us. We all had the same thing written in our eyes: _Minako, you moron, caring more about others happiness instead of your own. _She just shook her head and smiled before turning back to the small blonde.  
"Do you want some cake to help cheer you up before you perform?"  
"I would love some cake Honey-Sempai! Thank you!"

I sighed and walked over to our table. Hikaru picked up the act first, and I unconsciously went along with it. Why does she always have to be like that? She needs to think about herself every once in a while. Just this morning she didn't want to come to school because she didn't want to tell Kei. You would think that after losing her mother, she would want to stay at home, but to stay because she didn't want to hurt her brother?! What the heck!

"Minako! Why won't you smile?! Won't you smile for your uncle?!" I groaned at the annoying voice of the boss as he acted like an idiot once again. But then it hit me. He's going to bother her until she snaps...  
"MINAKO! Why won't you answer meeeee?! Why are you so sad?! Please tell your uncle what's wrong!"  
"MY MOM DIED LAST NIGHT OK?!" she finally burst out. The room got silent as everyone turned to look at my girlfriend, who had just screamed that into the microphone she had been setting up.

Hikaru and I stood up at the same time, heading straight towards Tamaki. We each grabbed a side of his shirt and dragged the frozen blonde out in the hallway.  
"Why is it that you can never keep that big mouth of yours shut?!" we yelling in unison.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't know" he replied feebly.  
"That's because you don't think when you push people to their limits!"

We gave him a long lecture, leaving an eerie silence. Tamaki decided he was going to beak that silence.  
"So, are Minako and Kei going to live alone now?" I looked at my twin. I hadn't even thought about that. I light bulb flashed over my brothers head a second before one appeared over mine, grins spreading across our faces.  
"Hey! What's that look for?!"

Without answering, we went back into the room and put our arms around Minako.  
"We just came up with the greatest idea-" Hikaru started.  
"So that you and Kei won't have to live alone-"  
"You can come"  
"and live-"  
"with us!" We finished in unison. I felt as she stiffened before turning around with a beautiful smile and hugged us. Kei came up to us and smiled at his sister before looking at us. His look was all we needed. The Hikari's were moving in with us.

* * *

**My point of view X3 **

It had been almost a year since Minako and Kei Hikari moved in the massive mansion Hikaru and Kaoru call a house. Let's see what this special day in this so called house looks like...

Minako slowly opened her eyes groggily, feeling a pressure on her arm. She bolted straight up and grabbed the book she was currently reading and started smacking the lump laying next to her under the covers. Said lump jolted awake and fell out of the bed.  
"OW! Mini, what the heck was that for?!"  
"I have told you over and over: DO NOT SNEEK INTO MY ROOM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND GET IN **MY** BED!"  
"Alright, alright! I'm going! Just stop throwing stuff at me!"

The irritated girl looked over at the calendar and let out a squeal. Today was Christmas. She jumped out of bed and raced to the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. Once she got out of the shower, she put on a long sleeved red shirt with white lace and black pants. She tied a white ribbon in her now neck length hair, giving her a cute look. Minako opened the door and started skipping down the stairs... at least she was until she tripped and fell the rest of the way down, crashing into one of the twins.

Much to her pleasure, she crashed into Kaoru, thus knocking him to the ground with her on top of him.  
"Well that's a new way of saying good morning."  
"Yes it is. Now for my way of saying Merry Christmas." she said with a grin before kissing him.  
"You guys aren't even under the mistletoe!" Kei interrupted. They pulled away and stood up, a light blush on their faces.

"Kaoru, come look at all the presents!" Hikaru shouted from the next room. The couple grinned and raced to see the brightly decorated tree loaded with presents.  
"So many..." Minako exclaimed in awe. The group went right to work on their presents, wrapping paper flying everywhere. The rest of the days activities included a Christmas feast, karaoke, truth or dare, a visit from the host club members, and a private fireworks show once it got dark enough.

Right before the fireworks started, Kaoru pulled Minako away from the group and lead her upstairs. He went in a guest room and went outside on a patio.  
"Minako, I have one last gift for you." he said seriously, a bright shade of pink on his face. He kneeled down on one knee and held out a big box, opened the lid, and revealed a heart shaped necklace. "I want to give you this as a promise, a promise that I will love you with all of my heart until the day I die. This necklace will symbolize that." Then he lifted on of the strings, bringing half of the heart up.

Minako took it, a brilliant smile on her face. "I have a piece of your heart, and you'll have a piece of mine." she said as he clipped the necklace into place. In turn, she did the same with his. The promise was sealed. Their hearts were held in the hands of their partner. He turned around and put his half next to hers, the magnets attaching together, making the heart whole. 5 years later, they were still wearing those necklaces, making them the highlight of their wedding. They loved each other until the day they died, holding hands and leaving the world peacefully, keeping their promise until the very end.


End file.
